Ouachita Stories

Ouachita Baptist University’s Concert Choir will perform its annual spring concert with members of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra Saturday, April 28, at 7:30 p.m. in Jones Performing Arts Center on the Ouachita campus.

In addition to members of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, the 120-voice choir will be accompanied by members of the OBU Wind Ensemble and OBU faculty. The concert will feature two works, Antonio Vivaldi’s “Gloria” and Franz Joseph Haydn’s “Lord Nelson Mass.”

“‘Gloria’ is from the baroque period and ‘Lord Nelson Mass’ is from the classical period,” said Dr. Gary Gerber, chair of the division of music and director of Concert Choir. “I rotate the choral works so that a student who is at OBU all four years sings from the five major musical periods. This way they get to experience each musical style.

“We are very fortunate at Ouachita to be able to present this type of music at this level for undergraduate music majors,” said Dr. Gerber. “Many of the works we perform at Ouachita are works that music students would only perform at a graduate school.”

The concert will feature several student soloists including: Caitlin Secrest, a sophomore vocal performance major from Arkadelphia, Ark.; Meredith Martin, a sophomore music education major from Garland, Texas; and Joel Rogier, a junior vocal performance major from Glen Carbon, Ill. Also, David Stanley, visiting instructor of music at OBU, will sing the tenor and countertenor roles for the concert.

Concert Choir is open to all Ouachita students and is one of the largest concert groups on campus.

Tickets are $5 each for the general public, and OBU students receive one free ticket with their student IDs. Tickets are available at the Jones Performing Arts Center Box Office from 1-5 p.m. weekdays or online at www.obu.edu/finearts. For more information, contact the box office during office hours at (870) 245-5563.

For more information, contact Dr. Gary Gerber at [email protected].

By Lacey Brooks