Ouachita Stories

Ouachita Baptist University’s Division of Music will present its annual PRISM concert Monday, April 30, at 7:30 p.m. The concert will feature Ouachita’s Wind Ensemble, Steel Drum Band and Percussion Ensemble, as well as other instrumental ensembles and soloists. The concert will be held in Jones Performing Arts Center, and admission is free and open to the public.

“This concert showcases the entire instrumental music department,” said Nevada Mills, instructor of music and assistant director of bands. “Everyone gets a moment to shine.”

The concert’s name was inspired by a prism because as light passes through it, it is refracted into the different colors of the rainbow.

“We will use light cues to show the different ‘colors’ of our instrumental program,” explained Dr. Craig Hamilton, Lena Goodwin Trimble Professor of Music and director of bands. “It is a wonderful way of showcasing our instrumental ensembles and our wonderfully talented students and faculty.”

PRISM is a unique concert experience because the audience sits in the center of JPAC. The ensembles are located around the edges of the auditorium, so the audience is literally surrounded by the music.

“The entire program is played uninterrupted by applause,” Dr. Hamilton noted. “It is one of my favorite programs we produce.”

Ouachita’s Wind Ensemble will perform Claude T. Smith’s “God of Our Fathers,” Dana Wilson’s “Dance of the New World” and Giacomo Puccini’s “Nessun Dorma,” featuring Dr. Arnold Rawls, associate professor of music and artist in residence.

The Percussion Ensemble will perform “Points for Consistency” by Brian Nozny, “Blue Burn” by Joseph Tompkins and traditional Mexican marimba tunes.

Beginning Steel Band will play “Under the Sea” by Alan Menken. The Advanced Steel Band will perform “Africa” by David Patch and Jeff Porcaro and “Rant and Rave” by Christopher Herbert.

“While the bands will be playing a few pieces, the different studios like clarinet, saxophone, trombone and percussion will each perform in smaller groups that showcase their instruments,” Mills explained.

The horn section will perform “In the Country” by Max Pottag, and the trombone section will perform “Grassauer Zwiefacher” by Jan Koetsier. The brass section will perform “Brass Quintet” by Arthur Fracknpohl and “Volkslied” and “Trinklied” from Four Songs for Brass by Ludwig Maurer. A flute choir will play “Masques” by Anne McGinty. A woodwind quintet will perform “Danzas Españolas” by Enrique Grandos. The Tuba and Euphonium Ensemble will perform “White Keys” by Zach Collins. The trumpet section will perform “Intrada” from Suite for Five Trumpets by Ronald Lo Presti.

An ensemble from Ouachita’s Jazz Band will also perform a small selection of songs. They will perform “Hymn of Acxiom” by Vienna Teng and arranged by CJ Slatton, a senior music education major from Paragould, Ark. They will follow with “Funky Sax” by Philippe Geiss and “Fast Walk” by Daniel Dorff.

To close the performance, all of the bands will combine to honor the memory of W. Francis McBeth, an internationally acclaimed composer, longtime professor of music at Ouachita and namesake of McBeth Recital Hall. The combined band will perform “Ishmael,” “Queequeg,” “Father Maple,” “Ahab” and “The White Whale” from Of Sailors and Whales by McBeth. The combined band will close the concert with “Horse-Race,” “Tribal Dance” and “Parade” from Newsreel by William Shuman.

For more information, contact Dr. Craig Hamilton at [email protected] or (870) 245-5137.

 

By Katie Smith // Photo by Laken Livingston

April 20, 2018