Ouachita Baptist University’s Division of Music will present the Ouachita Singers in concert on Thursday, Oct. 17, at 7:30 p.m. in Mabee Fine Art Center’s McBeth Recital Hall. The concert is free and open to the public.
The Ouachita Singers also will release their newest CD, “Sing Me to Heaven,” at the concert. Since several of the students who helped record this CD last spring have graduated, the concert will debut the many new members of Ouachita Singers and “help them officially come together as one choral unit,” said Dr. Gary Gerber, director of the choir. Gerber also serves as chair of the Division of Music, director of choral activities and professor of music.
“This first concert will show the new members how amazing it is to be in this group,” said Meredith Martin, a senior choral music education major from Garland, Texas. “We have a lot of fun together and all love making music. … We’re excited to share this with other people and hopefully make them smile.”
The concert will feature a variety of choral works from the 20th and 21st century. Dr. Gerber said that while in the past this choir performed mostly a cappella, this year’s performance includes more instrumental compositions to highlight guest pianist Dr. Adam Hass, OBU lecturer in music.
The program includes: “O quam gloriosum est regnum” by Tomas Luis de Victoria; “I Will Lift Mine Eyes” by Jake Runestad; Michael McCarthy’s “Vidi aquam”; “Exsultate Justi” by Thomas Juneau; “Sing Me to Heaven” by Daniel Gawthrop; “Autumn” by Jussi Chydenius; Eric Whitacre’s “The Seal Lullaby”; Ryan Murphy’s arrangement of “Pilgrim Song”; Eric William Barnum’s “Fair Ines”; “O Gracious Light” by Howard Helvey; Gunnar Eriksson’s arrangement of “To the Mothers in Brazil: Salve Regina”; and Craig Courtney’s “Let There Be Light.”
