Ouachita Stories

Ouachita Baptist University’s String Ensemble will present a concert on April 29 at 7:30 p.m. in Mabee Fine Arts Center’s McBeth Recital Hall on Ouachita’s campus.

According to Dr. Craig Hamilton, conductor of the ensemble, OBU’s Lena Goodwin Trimble Professor of Music and director of bands, the concert will feature “a variety of music and styles.”

The concert will begin with Alan Lee Silva’s “Blue Ridge Run,” followed by John O’Reilly’s “A River Trilogy” and Tim McCarrick’s arrangement of Frideric Handel’s “Allegro Vivo” from Concerto Grosso Op. 6, #5. It will continue with “Sakura, Sakura” by Keiko Yamada and James Kazik’s arrangement of Stephen Schwartz’ “For Good” from Wicked.

The second half of the concert will feature Robert Longfield’s arrangements of Jacques Offenbach’s “Barcarolle” and Benjamin Britten’s “The Salley Gardens,” followed by Bob Lipton’s “Kalimba” and another Robert Longfield arrangement, “Theme from Schindler’s List”” by John Williams. The concert will conclude with “A Keltic Feast” by Richard Meyer.

The string ensemble includes violinists Emily Anderson, a freshman Christian missions major from Siloam Springs, Ark.; Judith Brizuela, a sophomore psychology and business administration/management major from Cortes, Honduras; Annelise Henley, a freshman psychology and history major from Arkadelphia, Ark.; Dr. Sara Hubbard, assistant professor of chemistry; Samantha Street, a sophomore accounting major from Rogers, Ark.; Jonathan Waddell, a freshman psychology major from North Little Rock, Ark.; and Hunter Wolf, a freshman business administration/management major from Waco, Texas.

Professor Emeritus of Chemistry Dr. Alex Nesbit will perform on the cello, and his wife, Meredith, will play viola. Jacob Sturgeon, a freshman choral music education major from Pine Bluff, Ark., will also play cello, with Maggie Taylor, a senior choral music education major from Russellville, Ark., also performing on the viola.

Tyler Kemp and Michael Curtis on bass will complete the string musicians. Kemp is a junior music theory and composition major from Bolivar, Mo. Curtis is a sophomore music major from Wylie, Texas.

Emily Tucker, a sophomore piano performance major from Hot Springs, Ark., will accompany the ensemble on piano, and Zach Zucha, a sophomore business administration/finance major from Sachse, Texas, will serve as percussionist.

The concert is free and open to the public. For more information, contact the OBU School of Fine Arts at (870) 245-5129.

By Brooke Zimny