Ouachita to host annual Shambarger Competition for Singers on March 3
February 18, 2015
- Chelsea WhelpleyOuachita Baptist University’s Division of Music will host its 17th annual Mary Shambarger
Competition for Singers on Tuesday, March 3, at 2 p.m. in Mabee Fine Arts Center’s
McBeth Recital Hall on the Ouachita campus. The competition’s performances are open
to the public.
The competition is open to Ouachita voice principals in their fourth semester of study
or beyond and features a repertoire that rotates annually among selections from art
songs, music theatre and arias. This year’s competition will highlight art songs.
“This will be a fantastic afternoon of various art songs of all different styles and
time periods,” said David Stanley, instructor of music and event coordinator. This
year, 20 upperclassmen voice principals are in competition.
The Shambarger Competition is held each year to honor Mary Shambarger, professor emerita
of music, who served as a professor and vocal instructor on Ouachita’s music faculty
for 32 years. Shambarger was influential in the formation of the Ouachita-Tones, an
all-female singing ensemble, which she later restructured into what is now known as
the Ouachita Sounds, a smaller ensemble of male and female students.
“The Shambarger Competition is not only a wonderful opportunity for student performers
to share their musical gifts through song, but also an opportunity to win generous
prize money,” noted Stanley. “This competition typically brings out the very best
in our OBU vocalists.”
The generous prize money is made available by Shambarger to encourage students to
present their work in the most professional way possible. The first-place winner will
receive a $500 award; second place will receive $300; third place will receive $200;
fourth place will receive $100 and honorable mention will receive $50.
Shambarger further remains involved by serving as one of the judges. Dr. Charles Wright,
former dean of the OBU School of Fine Arts and current development officer, and Jenna
Williams Tucker, a 2002 Ouachita graduate and voice professional, join her in adjudication.
A reception in the Hammons Gallery of Mabee Fine Arts Center honoring the singers
and judges will follow the competition.
For more information, contact OBU’s School of Fine Arts at (870) 245-5129.
By Chelsea Whelpley
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