Ouachita Stories

Ouachita Baptist University Division of Music will host a concert featuring the Ouachita Wind Ensemble on Tuesday, Nov. 5, at 7:30 p.m. This concert, which is free and open to the public, will be held in Jones Performing Arts Center.

The Wind Ensemble consists of 41 students representing different majors from across campus.

“We have prepared a wonderful concert of various styles,” said Dr. Craig Hamilton, director of the Wind Ensemble. Hamilton also serves as OBU’s Lena Goodwin Trimble Professor of Music and director of bands.

The Nov. 5 concert will include Gordon Jacob’s “An Original Suite,” Antonin Dvorak’s “Serenade in D Minor, Op. 44,” Jack Stamp’s “Bandancing,” William Grant Still’s “From the Delta” and Malcolm Arnold’s “Prelude, Siciliano and Rondo.”

“For one of the pieces, we're playing with a reduced ensemble,” said Megan Massey, a senior instrumental music education major from Azle, Texas, “and it's been my favorite piece to work up because everyone's parts are so independent, yet the piece works so well when it's put together.”

Bret Steed, a senior music performance major from Idabel, Okla., said, “I have played trombone in the ensemble for four years, and throughout the four years, the repertoire we have performed has been a great educational and aesthetic experience.”

Anna English, a senior English major from Coppell, Texas, said, “I play French horn, and I enjoy playing in the Wind Ensemble because a lot of my friends are in it and it's a good way to be involved in music without being a music major.”

Steed added, “Dr. Hamilton does a fantastic job with the ensemble, and, in my opinion, he is one of Arkansas’ best-kept secrets because he is truly a talented and passionate conductor, educator and man.”

A live webcast of the performance will be posted at www.obu.edu/band. For more information, contact Dr. Craig Hamilton at [email protected] or (870) 245-5137.

By Kate Cody