General History | A Focus on Youth | Music By Moonlight Begins
Music By Moonlight Begins at Landmark Park
In 1993 the South Alabama Symphony Association, now Music South, sponsored the first Pops in the Park summer concert featuring the Alabama Symphony Orchestra at Landmark Park. The response was so overwhelming that it caused a traffic jam on Highway 431 leading to the Park. It's estimated that close to 3,500 people attended and that was the beginning of the very popular Music By Moonlight concert series which began July 1995. Now there are 4 concerts during the summer that are free to the public, presenting diverse groups from The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Three on a String, The Moonlighters, Dothan Community Band, The Ed Stephenson Group, plus various Celtic groups and bluegrass bands.
Music South also has been a major sponsor for the Downhome Jazz Festival since its inception in the early 1990’s. For many years Ralph Purvis of Wallace College wanted to present a Jazz Festival and, after much planning and work, it became a reality. The Jazz Festival continues to entertain as well as educate. Every year along with the Festival concert, the featured jazz artists conduct a master class open to all musicians. The Festival also includes a day long Jazz competition featuring groups from all over the Southeast region.
