Ouachita Stories

Ouachita Baptist University’s Division of Music will host Caitlin Secrest, Gemma Guiomard and Joel Rogier in their sophomore recitals Friday, March 9. The recitals, which are free and open to the public, will be held in McBeth Recital Hall on Ouachita’s campus.

Secrest, a sophomore vocal performance major from Arkadelphia, Ark., will perform at 11 a.m.

Secrest placed first in OBU’s 2012 Mary Shambarger Competition for Singers and has won multiple awards at the regional and state levels of competition in the National Association of Teachers of Singing auditions. She was a 2011 OperaWorks participant, and has appeared in Ouachita Opera Theatre’s productions as Zerlina in Don Giovanni and as Pamina in The Magic Flute. In the upcoming Ouachita production of The Drowsy Chaperone, Secrest will play the part of Kitty.

Secrest’s recital will begin with “Il bacio” by Luigi Arditi, followed by “Last Night the Rain Spoke to Me” by Lori Laitman. Secrest will then perform “Breit’ über mein Haupt” by Richard Strauss, followed by “Ah! Je veux vivre” from Roméo et Juliette by Charles Gounod. She will conclude the recital with Harvey Schmidt’s “Raunchy” from 110 in the Shade. She will be accompanied by Phyllis Walker.

Guiomard and Rogier will perform a joint recital at 2 p.m.

Guiomard, a sophomore musical theatre major from DeSoto, Texas, was a regional finalist and semifinalist in the National Association of Teachers of Singing Arkansas auditions and a participant in the Irene Ryan Acting Competition. Out of the 23 productions she has been involved in, her favorite roles are Jellylorum from Cats and Millie from Thoroughly Modern Millie.

Guiomard’s portion of the recital will begin with Alan Menken’s “Positoovity” from The Little Mermaid, followed by a scene from Squall by Eliabeth Hemmerdinger. Guiomard will then perform Tom Kitt’s “So Anyway” from Next to Normal, and will conclude her portion of the recital with Mel Brooks’ “I Want to Be a Producer” from The Producers. She will be accompanied by Susan Monroe.

Rogier, a sophomore vocal performance major from Glen Carbon, Ill., was a state finalist in the National Association of Teachers of Singing auditions. He has participated in the Artist-in-Training program at the Opera Theatre of St. Louis and has been selected to participate in the 2012 OperaWorks program. He has appeared in Ouachita Opera Theatre’s productions as Papageno in The Magic Flute and Masetto in Don Giovanni and will play the part of Aldolpho in the upcoming Ouachita production of The Drowsy Chaperone.

Rogier will begin his portion of the recital with “Non piu andrai” from Le Nozze di Figaro by W.A. Mozart, followed by “Bright Is the Ring of Words” by Ralph Vaughan Williams. Rogier will then perform “Soupir” by Henri Duparc, followed by “Von ewiger Liebe” by Johannes Brahms. The recital will conclude with Andrew Lippa’s “I’ll Be Here” from The Wild Party. He will be accompanied by Susan Monroe.

For more information, contact OBU’s School of Fine Arts at (870) 245-5129.

By Nicci Fillinger