Ouachita Concert Choir to perform Hayes’ "Requiem" and "Te Deum" April 28
April 12, 2016
- Caitlyn BarkerOuachita Baptist University’s Concert Choir will perform Mark Hayes’ Requiem and Te Deum on Thursday, April 28, at 7:30 p.m. in McBeth Recital Hall. Tickets are $10 each
and can be purchased at www.obu.edu/boxoffice.
The performance will be “an uplifting, exhilarating and worshipful musical experience,”
said Dr. Jon Secrest, chair of Ouachita’s Department of Applied Music and director
of the choir. “The music of Mark Hayes has immediate appeal for the tastes of our
student musicians and audience members alike.”
Secrest chose the pieces by Mark Hayes as the choir’s annual choral masterwork performance.
The choir will be accompanied by organist Dr. Adam Haas, OBU visiting assistant professor
of music, and Ouachita’s chamber orchestra. In addition to the more than 50 students
in Concert Choir, the performance will feature soloists Seth Russell, a senior vocal
performance major from Crossett, Ark.; Esther Atkinson, a junior musical theatre major
from Rogers, Ark.; and Jake Briggs, a senior music major from Alexander, Ark.
Both Requiem and Te Deum have spiritual themes. However, the choir has found a difference in the deeper meaning
of both pieces.
“We are dedicating our performance of the Requiem to those who have lost their lives in the war on terror, innocent victims and warriors
who have fought the good fight,” Secrest said. “Te Deum, on the other hand, is an extended anthem praising and celebrating the glories of
God, the Father everlasting.”
It takes hours of practice and preparation to perform a work of this difficulty, and
the process is made more challenging with limited time for rehearsal. Altogether,
Secrest said that the experience will help the students become better performers.
“It is extremely gratifying to see the hours of cumulative work come to fruition in
the live performance,” he noted. “I selected this music with the intention of challenging
members of Concert Choir, knowing full well they would embrace that challenge.” Secrest
added that a performance of this type of work “grows them musically and spiritually.”
The performance also will provide an opportunity for enrichment for audiences.
“The Ouachita and Arkadelphia communities need to experience live performances of
this kind,” Secrest said. “This music will move them from a state of mundane, hum-drum
existence, to that of enlightenment.”
Members of the chamber orchestra include: Glenda Aldridge, OBU staff accompanist,
on piano and harp; Becky Bloodworth, a junior instrumental music education major from
Dallas, Texas, on clarinet;
Shannon Clardy, adjunct professor of oboe and associate
professor of physics at Henderson State University, on oboe; Seth Daniell, a sophomore
music composition major from Arkadelphia, Ark., on horn two; Kristin Grant, assistant
professor of music, on flute; Chris Hogan, a December 2015 graduate, on percussion;
Jason
Potts, a junior instrumental music performance major from Springdale, Ark., on trombone;
and Dr. Heather Thayer, assistant professor of music, on horn one.
For more information, contact Dr. Jon Secrest at [email protected] or (870) 245-5134.
To purchase tickets, call the OBU Box Office on weekdays from 1 to 5 p.m. at (870)
245-5555 or visit www.obu.edu/boxoffice.
By Caitlyn Barker // Photo above by Caroline Cain
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