April 18 concert at Ouachita to honor Dr. George Keck
April 15, 2011 - Brooke Zimny
Ouachita Baptist University’s Division of Music will host guest pianists Andrew Granade
and David Allen Wehr along with the OBU Women’s Chorus and Ouachita Singers in a concert
honoring professor emeritus Dr. George Keck Monday, April 18, at 7:30 p.m. in McBeth
Recital Hall on Ouachita’s campus.
Dr. Keck, professor of music, was recently named professor emeritus of music. He will
retire this spring after teaching at Ouachita since 1969.
“Dr. Keck is a well-loved professor. Having taught all music students from his early
years to present, Dr. Keck has inspired numerous students in the area of music literature
and history,” said Dr. Scott Holsclaw, dean of OBU’s School of Fine Arts. “His commitment
to the mission of Ouachita has made him a valued colleague across the disciplines.
“Dr. Keck has garnered the respect of administrators and colleagues through his service
on committees and special events,” Holsclaw added. “As Dr. Keck retires we recognize
the huge hole he is leaving in the Division of Music. He is truly irreplaceable.”
As a tribute to Keck, Andrew Granade and David Allen Wehr are returning to perform
along with the Ouachita Women’s Chorus and Ouachita Singers.
Granade, a 1999 Ouachita piano performance and history graduate, currently serves
as assistant professor and area coordinator for musicology at the University of Missouri
at Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance. He earned his Ph.D. in musicology
as well as his Master of Music at the University of Illinois-Champaign. Granade also
previously taught at Millikin University in Illinois.
Wehr, artist-in-residence at OBU from 1994-2002, earned Bachelor of Music and Master
of Music degrees from the University of Kansas. He has performed more than 1,000 concerts
nationally and internationally to critical acclaim. Wehr holds the Jack W. Geltz Distinguished
Piano Chair at Duquesne University’s Marry Pappert School of Music in Pittsburgh,
Penn.
Granade will open the concert with selections from William Duckworth’s “The Time Curve
Preludes” before handing over the stage to the Ouachita Women’s Chorus.
The Women’s Chorus will perform Rubert Lang’s “Cantate Domino,” Guillo Caccini’s “Dona
Nobis Pacem” and “Lift Thine Eyes” from Felix Mendelssohn’s Elijah before concluding their portion of the concert with George Gershwin’s “Embraceable
You” and Anders Edenroth’s “Chili Con Carne.”
Wehr will then perform Francis Poulene’s “L’histoire de Babar” with Granade serving
as narrator.
The Ouachita Singers will be last to take the stage with Audrey Snyder’s arrangement
of “The Complete History of Western Music (Abridged),” followed by György Orbán’s
“Daemon irrepit callidus” and Rhonda Sandberg’s arrangement of J.S. Bach’s “Come Soothing
Death.” The Singers will conclude the concert with “The Road Not Taken” from Randall
Thompson’s Frostiana and Donna Jo Butler’s “Recollection of Joy.”
The concert is free and open to the public. For more information, contact the School
of Fine Arts at (870) 245-5129.
By Brooke Zimny
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