Ouachita Stories

Ouachita Baptist University will present the Women's Chorus and Concert Choir in concert at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 27 in Mabee Fine Arts Center’s McBeth Recital Hall on the Ouachita campus. This will be the first concert presented by the university's choral program for the academic year.

"This performance will be an opportunity to hear Ouachitonians making incredible music together,” said Women’s Chorus Director David Stanley, OBU instructor of music. “The ladies have come together very quickly to put together a great program of music."

Women's Chorus includes nearly 50 students who auditioned for the group. The choir will perform Michael D. Mendoza's "Sing a New Song," Karen Linford Robinson's "High Flight," Daniel J. Hall's arrangement of "In the Sweet By and By," Stephen Paulus' adaptation of "The Road Home" and Paul Caldwell and Sean Ivory's arrangement of the traditional spiritual "Ain't No Grave Can Hold My Body Down." The group will be accompanied on piano by Glenda Aldridge.

The Concert Choir portion of the performance will include music by Wolfgang Mozart, Franz Schubert and Richard Farrant. The choir is directed by Dr. Gary Gerber, who also serves as chair of the division of music, professor of music and director of choral activities. This year the choir has 145 students. It is open to all students on campus.

"Each year the choral area presents several choir concerts to Ouachita and the community that feature not only different choral ensembles, but types of concerts," Gerber noted.

Additional opportunities to hear Ouachita choral groups include: Ouachita Singers Fall Concert, Festival of Christmas, A Service of Lessons and Carols, Ouachita Sounds Spring Program and Concert Choir’s Spring work with orchestra.

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

By Adam Webb