Ouachita Stories

Ouachita Baptist University will present Ouachita Sounds and the Ouachita Jazz Band in a joint concert Friday, Feb. 7, at 7:30 p.m. in Jones Performing Arts Center. Tickets are $8 each and may be purchased at www.obu.edu/boxoffice.

Ouachita Sounds, a 10-member audition-only show choir of men and women, will bring classic movies to the stage with choreographed selections from Academy Award-winning movies such as “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” “The Little Mermaid” and “Footloose.”

“The music will appeal to audience members of all ages,” said Sounds member MaryLacey Thomson, a senior musical theatre major from Plano, Texas. “I think they will enjoy the wide variety of songs we’re doing.”

Some of these songs include “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” made popular by “Mary Poppins,” “What A Feeling,” from the 1983 film “Flashdance,” “The Way You Look Tonight” from the film “Swing Time,” “Under The Sea,” from the Disney classic “The Little Mermaid” and many more.

The Ouachita Jazz Band, also an audition-only ensemble, will accompany Sounds during their performance. The 17-member ensemble also will perform a variety of arrangements on their own, including “Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing” by Stevie Wonder, Itaal Shur and Rob Thomas’ “Smooth,” selections by the Blues Brothers and other jazz compilations.

“I am excited for the concert with Sounds because it will allow us to play for a different kind of audience,” said Jazz Band member Alexandra Lawson, a freshman accounting major from Texarkana, Texas.

Ouachita Sounds is directed by Mary Worthen, assistant professor of music, and is choreographed by Stacy Hawking, a sophomore musical theatre major from Sherwood, Ark.

Other members of Sounds include: Hannah Bauman, a freshman worship arts major from Tyler, Texas; Jake Briggs, a sophomore music major from Alexander, Ark.; Nicole Mattson, a senior musical theatre major from Rowlett, Texas; Todd McNeel, a senior mass communications major from Grand Prairie, Texas; Alexis Morgan, a freshman choral music education major from Frisco, Texas; Tyler Rosenthal, a senior mass communications major from Little Rock, Ark.; Garrett Sayers, a sophomore musical theatre major from Greenwood, Ark.; and MaryLacey Thomson, a senior musical theatre major from Plano, Texas.

The Ouachita Jazz Band is directed by Dr. Craig Hamilton, Lena Goodwin Trimble Professor of Music and director of bands.

Members of the band include: Zach Barber, a junior instrumental music education major from Mansfield, Texas, on alto saxophone; Kelly Cortez, a senior biology and Spanish major from McKinney, Texas, on trumpet; Drew Ervin, a senior music and computer science major from Springdale, Ark., on drums; Lee Garrett, a freshman music major from Searcy, Ark., on guitar; Alison King, a senior music major from Fort Worth, Texas, on alto saxophone; Dalton King, a freshman instrumental music education major from Greenwood, Ark., on trombone; Alexandra Lawson, a sophomore accounting major from Texarkana, Texas, on trumpet; Justin Massey, a junior instrumental music education major from Weatherford, Texas, on bass; Brent Nessler, a senior performance major from Rowlett, Texas, on tenor saxophone; Lindsay Palmer, a sophomore instrumental music education major from Idabel, Okla., on trumpet; Jason Potts, a freshman instrumental music education major from Springdale, Ark., on trombone; Kacie Richards, a freshman education major from Rowlett, Texas, on trumpet; Kaden Sosebee, a junior Christian studies/Christian theology and Biblical studies major from Fort Smith, Ark., on trombone; Bret Steed, a senior performance major from Idabel, Okla., on trombone; Hoshiro Takuto, a freshman from Kitakyushu, Japan, on tenor saxophone; Chelsea Villaneuva, a senior instrumental music education major from Bentonville, Ark., on baritone saxophone; and Weston Wills, a freshman choral music education major from Norphlet, Ark., on piano. Carli Sasser, a senior choral music education major from Hamburg, Ark., is the Jazz Band’s featured vocalist.

OBU students may receive one free ticket with their valid university ID. For more information, contact the Jones Performing Arts Center box office weekdays from 1-5 p.m. at (870) 245-5555.

By Taylor Tomlinson