JACKSON, Miss.—Conversations, a newly released compact disc featuring the chamber music of Angela Willoughby and James Sclater is now on sale in the Methodist Rehabilitation Center gift shop and at other stores in the Jackson area.
“We are really pleased with the response we’ve gotten from the CD,” said Sclater, professor of theory and composition at Mississippi College.
Every other Friday at noon Sclater and Willoughby, an assistant professor of piano at MC, play the piano and clarinet for patients, staff and visitors in Methodist Rehab’s Atrium Mall.
The Clinton residents volunteer their time and perform the works of Brahms, Mozart, Horovitz and other classical composers in the two-story atrium.
“We really enjoy playing at the hospital,” said Willoughby. “The atrium has the acoustics of a cathedral and it is a beautiful environment to perform in.” The Atrium Mall houses a cafeteria and a McDonald’s restaurant. On a normal day, hundreds of staff and visitors from Methodist Rehab and the University of Mississippi Medical Center eat in or pass through the area.
The chamber music duo formed Lyricas in 1998. They have performed in Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and were guest performers at the lunch-time concert series at the church of St. Martin in the Fields in London, England. Willoughby is also director of music at Fondren Presbyterian Church in Jackson and Sclater is a three-time winner of both the composition award from the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters and the Composer of the Year award from the Mississippi Music Teachers Association.
Conversations is Willoughby and Sclater’s first CD. It is also available at the MC bookstore and at the Music Box in Jackson at 1491 Canton Mart Road.