Ouachita Stories

Ouachita Sounds and Tiger Blast will present a joint concert Friday, Feb. 10, at 7:30 p.m. in Ouachita Baptist University’s Jones Performing Arts Center.  The show is open to the public and tickets are $5 each.

Ouachita Sounds, an audition-only vocal group including 10 men and women will open the show with song selections such as “Don’t Rain on My Parade,” “Singing in the Rain,” “Here Comes the Rain” and “Purple Rain.”

Ouachita Sounds is under the direction of Leslie Harper, a staff accompanist in the Division of Music.  Members of the group include John Doss, a freshman music theory/composition major from Rogers, Ark.; Connor Goad, a freshman musical theatre major from Hot Springs, Ark.; Rachel Harris, a senior musical theatre and vocal performance major from Springdale, Ark.; DeCarl Jones, a sophomore vocal performance major from Garland, Texas; Stewart Kelly, a junior church music major from Keller, Texas; Lola McClendon, a senior musical theatre and Spanish major from Springdale, Ark.; Shay Michael, a junior musical theatre major from Grapevine, Texas; Tyler Rosenthal, a freshman music and mass communications major from Little Rock, Ark.; Bethany Swiontek, a junior musical theatre major from Colorado Springs, Colo.; and MaryLacey Thomson, a sophomore musical theatre major from Plano, Texas.

Tiger Blast is a performance instrumental band under the direction of Robert Hesse, director of athletic bands.  They will be presenting “fun sounds that you want to hear,” Hesse said, such as “I Like It,” “Body and Soul” and “Dynamite.”

“Blast combines music, movement, lights and some theatrics to present a really neat experience for the audience,” said Kelsey Bates, a senior music education and instrumental major from Marion, Ark., who plays French horn in the group.

Tickets may be purchased for $5 at the Jones Performing Arts Center Box Office from 1-5 p.m. weekdays or online at www.obu.edu/finearts. OBU students receive one free ticket with their student IDs. For more information, contact the JPAC Box Office at (870) 245-5563.

By Stephanie Hampton