Ouachita Stories

Ouachita Baptist University’s Division of Music will host Hannah Saunders in her senior recital on Wednesday, Feb. 20, at 8 p.m. in McBeth Recital Hall. The recital is free and open to the public.

Saunders, a senior musical theatre major from St. Paul, Ark., is a Presser Scholar, an honor given by the Presser Foundation and Ouachita’s School of Fine Arts to an outstanding academic junior music major. Saunders also is a member of Pi Kappa Lambda national music honor society and a student of Ouachita professors Dr. Margaret Garrett, associate professor of music, and Joe Hernandez, assistant professor of theatre arts.

“The experiences I’ve had at Ouachita – academic and personal – have been invaluable, and I wanted to paint that picture, built on my personal struggles and experiences, and looking toward a future filled with hope,” Saunders said about crafting her recital program.

Saunders will begin her recital with “Lo spazzacamino” by Giuseppe Verdi, followed by “Tornamia vagheggiar” from Alcina by George Fredrik Handel, “Gloria” by Antonio Vivaldi and “II. Hotel” and “IV. Voyage a Paris” from Francis Poulenc’s “Banalités.” Next, she will perform “Je ne t’aime pas” by Kurt Weill, “The Silver Swan” by Orlando Gibbons, “The Silver Swan” by Ned Rorem and “Ablusong in sommer” by Gustav Mahler, followed by “Der Holle Rache” from The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, “How Will I Know” from Death Takes a Holiday by Maury Yeston, “The Lady is a Tramp” from Babes in Arms by Lorenz Hart and Richard Rodgers and “What’s to Lose” and “The Stars Have Blown My Way” from The Nervous Set by Jay Landesman and Theodore J. Flicker. To conclude, Saunders will perform “Act 2, Scene 7” from Chapter Two by Neil Simon, “Mother’s Lullaby” from Foreverman by Brett M. Boles and Natalie Tenenbaum and Nathan Tysen and Daniel Messe’s “Times are Hard for Dreamers” from Amelie.

“I wanted to do two things with my recital,” she said. “Academically, I wanted to showcase a variety of music. I chose pieces from many different time periods and genres, each reflecting different aspects of my education and training. Artistically, I tried to choose pieces that I really connected with.”

Saunders will be assisted by Amy Lytle, a senior music and theatre arts double major from Plano, Texas, and Beaux Schmidt, a senior music industry major from Rowlett, Texas, and her choreographer is Philip Jesse Robinson, a senior musical theatre major from Lewisville, Texas.

For more information, contact OBU’s School of Fine Arts at (870) 245-5129.

 

February 15, 2019