Ouachita Stories

Ouachita Baptist University will host the Ouachita Singers and Women’s Chorus in concert on Monday, May 2, at 7:30 p.m. in McBeth Recital Hall. The concert will be free and open to the public and will be professionally recorded for a new CD due for release in the fall.

Ouachita Singers includes 39 students who rehearse three times weekly to prepare for their performances. The group is under the direction of Dr. Gary Gerber, dean of the School of Fine Arts.

The performance will feature secular and sacred music with a variety of styles. The songs to be performed are ”O Clap Your Hands” by John Rutter, “Ave Maria” by Javier Busto, “Song of Exaltation” by John Ness Beck, “Adoramus te, Christe” by Eric Barnum, “God of the Deep” by Dan Forrest, “Dwijavanthi (an Indian raga)” by Ethan Sperry, “Lullaby” by Daniel Elder and “A City Called Heaven” by Josephine Poelinitz.

“The audience will hopefully enjoy the variety of the choral music,” Gerber said. “I hope they leave with a sense of the quality of the choral program at Ouachita.”

In preparation for the performance, the Ouachita Singers performed at several different locations throughout the month of March.

“It is an honor to be able to lead such a high quality group of musicians in a concert of music in which they have poured their time and efforts into for the audience. This will be evident in their singing,” Gerber said.

The second part of the performance will feature the Women’s Chorus, which includes 29 female students. The chorus is led by Dr. Becky Morrison, assistant professor of music.

The Women’s Chorus will perform “Walk Together Children” by Stacey Gibbs, “Ave Rosa” by Jon Adams,
“Scarborough Fair” by Anne-Marie Hildebrandt, “The Moon Is Distant from the Sea” by David N. Childs, “Poem” by Emily Dickinson, “Your Masterpiece” by Brad Henderson and “Bring Me Little Water, Silvy” by Moira Smiley.

“The audience can expect to have an evening of beautiful music, entertainment and fun,” Morrison said.

Morrison said she has enjoyed her time as director of the Women’s Chorus and has developed a close relationship with the women involved.

“They are talented, gracious and fun to work with,” she noted. “They have also formed a lovely sisterhood where they support, care for and love each other.”

The concert will offer the audience an opportunity to hear styles of music that they may not have heard before and to experience art in a new and different way.

“The Ouachita community as a whole should seek to find time to enjoy the arts, no matter if it is music, theatre or Art and Design,” Gerber added. “Ouachita has a fantastic art culture that should be enjoyed and appreciated by its own, as well as the Arkadelphia community.”

For more information, contact Dr. Gary Gerber at [email protected] or (870) 245-5128 or Dr. Becky Morrison at [email protected] or (870) 245-5143.

 

By Caitlyn Barker // Photo by Gary Gerber