The first week in March signals the start of Lent and the renewal of an annual tradition in Vicksburg and Warren County with the start of the Lenten Fine Arts Series at the Church of the Holy Trinity.

The series runs from March 8 to April 12. All of the programs are free and will be presented each Friday at noon with a lunch following at 12:30 p.m. The cost of the lunch is $10.

The series opens March 8 with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. featuring “Mississippi and Beyond,” an exhibition of works by photographer Suzi Altman in the Holy Trinity parish hall.

“She was one of the first photographers at 9/11 and she’s travelled all over the world with photography,” Lenten Fine Arts Series coordinator Dorothy Brasfield said. “She’s been very instrumental in saving the folk art in Vicksburg through the years, so she’s quite well known.”

Musical programs scheduled for the series include the Marta Szlubowska Ensemble, the Diamond Piano Trio, Alcorn University Chamber Choir and the Mississippi Boychoir. The series will also include a discussion on the proposed Mississippi International Art Museum in Vicksburg.

The Marta Szlubowska Ensemble was founded in 2012 by violinist Marta Szlubowska, who is concertmaster for the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra.

The group plays a variety of music, including tangos, folk songs from different nations, gypsy music, the works of classical composers and works by American composers like George Gershwin and Irving Berlin.

Szlubowska, Brasfield said, has performed in Vicksburg before as a member of the symphony, a member of the symphony’s string quartet and with her father, who played the accordion.

The Diamond Piano Trio from Belhaven College, a trio of violin, piano and cello, will perform a light piano trio called “Café Music” by Paul Schoenfield, and will also play selections from either Mendelssohn or Brahms trios

Brasfield said Jack Kyle, executive director of the Mississippi International Art Museum in Vicksburg, will give a lecture on the museum’s plans, the concept, and explain what the museum will mean to Vicksburg.

“That’s such a huge involvement, and most people don’t know we’re looking at it,” she said.

The Mississippi Boychoir, which closes out the series, has also performed in Vicksburg, Brasfield said, adding the group practices each Monday afternoon in the choir room at the Church of the Holy Trinity’s Conservatory of Fine Arts.

The program dates include:

4March 8: Opening reception and photo exhibit, “Mississippi and Beyond,” 5-7 p.m.

4March 15: Marta Szlubowska Ensemble.

4March 22: Diamond Piano Trio, Dr. Stephan Sachs, director.

4March 29: Alcorn University Chamber Choir, Dr. Alexander, director.

4April 5: Mississippi International Art Museum, Jack Kyle, executive director and Mayor George Flaggs Jr.

4April 12: Mississippi Boychoir, Nancy Robertson, director.