Ouachita Stories

Ouachita Baptist University will host the OBU Percussion Ensemble in concert on Monday, Nov. 9, at 7:30 p.m. The concert will be held in the Mabee Fine Arts Center’s McBeth Recital Hall on Ouachita’s campus. Admission is free and open to the public.

The theme of the concert is “Light and Darkness” and features music written specifically for percussion instruments. Each of the seven pieces being presented has themes centered on either light or shadow.

“For the whole evening, the audience will be exposed to a juxtaposition of pieces representing both light and shadow, and, hopefully, they will be able to clearly see the different colors and shades that the music creates,” said Abby Tipps, a junior music education major from Sulphur Springs, Texas.

“Due to the nature of the musical theme, we hope audiences will leave the concert with renewed hope that light will always triumph over evil,” said Dr. Ryan Lewis, director of the ensemble and assistant professor of music.

The concert will open with Evelyn Glennie’s “Light in Darkness,” performed by Carter Harlan, a senior music education major from Fayetteville, Ark. The rest of the ensemble will join with the following piece, “The Red Shadow on the Water Ripples” by Japanese composer Hioryuki Yamazawa.

The concert will continue with “Nomen Solers (The Name of the Sun)” by Cynthia Barlow and Ivan Trevino’s “Catching Shadows,” which was “inspired by the diverse music found on the composer’s teacher’s iPod,” Lewis said. “Catching Shadows” will feature Harlan and Chris Hogan, a senior music education major from Bartlesville, Okla., on marimba with a quartet of percussion ensemble members playing and singing parts.

In contrast to “Nomen Solers,” which is inspired by the sun, the next piece on the program is the first movement of Blake Tyson’s “Moonrise,” which was “written to musically describe the moon, as well as the love his grandparents held for one another as youths,” Lewis said.

The closing piece will be “Shadow Chasers” by Michael Burritt. This selection’s title comes from the writings of C.S. Lewis.

“I love the piece and what it represents—the nature of us as humans to chase after the 'shadows' or the temporary, rather than chasing after Christ, the eternal,” Tipps said. “Aside from its great theme, this piece is also very fun and exciting to play.”

Lewis said the final piece is also his favorite to direct because of what it has taught the ensemble.

“Through it, they have learned to work together in a chamber ensemble, learned to navigate extremely complex time signature changes, they have experimented and carefully chosen the proper sound colors for each section and they have reached the point where they have learned each other’s parts as well as their own,” Lewis said. “The latter is the mark of a quality chamber ensemble, and I am so proud to see them attain a higher degree of musicality. It is a great piece with which to end the concert.”

For more information on the percussion ensemble, visit www.obu.edu/percussion or contact Dr. Ryan Lewis at [email protected] or (870) 245-5421.

 

By Katie Smith // Photo by Tyler Rosenthal