Ouachita Stories

Ouachita Baptist University will host the Arkansas Saxophone Quartet Monday, Nov. 12, at 7:30 p.m. in W. Francis Mcbeth Recital Hall in Mabee Fine Arts Center. The event, sponsored by the Ouachita Division of Music, is free and open to the public.

The Arkansas Saxophone Quartet was formed in 2007 by four saxophone professors from four universities across the state. Each member has vast performing experience, playing concerts and recitals worldwide. Members include Andy Wen on soprano saxophone, associate professor of music at the University of Arkansas-Little Rock; Caroline Taylor on alto saxophone, professor of music at Ouachita Baptist University; Brent Bristow on tenor saxophone, director of bands and professor of saxophone at Arkansas State University-Beebe; and Jackie Lamar on baritone saxophone, professor of music at the University of Central Arkansas.

The quartet has performed throughout the U.S., including appearances at the North American Saxophone Alliance Conferences in South Carolina, Missouri and Texas; the International Conference on Arts and Humanities in Honolulu, Hawaii; and several events throughout Arkansas. The group has appeared most recently at the World Saxophone Conference in St. Andrews, Scotland, this summer.

The Nov. 12 program will include Jose Oliver Riojas’ arrangement of “Folk Dances” by Dmitri Shostakokvich; “Avec Une Sage Decision,” “Assez lent” and “Vif” by Florent Schmitt; “Warm, Unhurried, and Legato” and “Continuous, smooth, angular motion” by Steven Bryant, a Ouachita alumnus; “Saxema,” “Valse Llewellyn” and “Saxophobia” by Rudy Wiedoeft and Jose Oliver Riojas’s arrangement of “The Body of Your Dreams” by Jacob Ter Veldhuis.

“We are most excited about” the final selection, Taylor said. “It involves a late night TV ad for a workout machine with the saxophone quartet and a boom box.”

For more information, contact Caroline Taylor at [email protected] or (870) 245-5139.

By Matthew Cook