April 14, 2008
The Oklahoma Baptist University-Shawnee Community Orchestra's Seventh Season Spring Concert will be Tuesday, April 15 at 7:30 pm in OBU's Raley Chapel.
Highlighting the program will be the music of Norwegian composer, Edvard Grieg, master of the miniatures, French composer, Georges Bizet, and the renowned Russian, Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov. The MacArthur String Quartet also will perform.
The concert will feature a patriotic work called "The Pledge of Allegiance," by Reed. The piece will include four vocalists: OBU music majors Aaron Foshee, Katie Overturf, and Charles Bullard.
"Anytime one mixes Norwegian, French and Russian music on the same program, variety and contrast can be expected," said Dr. Jim Hansford, Burton Patterson Professor of Music, director of bands, and coordinator of instrumental studies since 1990.
About half of the 50 member ensemble comes from the surrounding community including McLoud, Ada, Norman, Oklahoma City, Tecumseh, Choctaw, Edmond, Okmulgee, and Shawnee while the remaining members are OBU students. The ensemble divides almost equally between OBU students and community folks.
The community orchestra was organized in the fall of 2001 with assistance of a grant from the Kirkpatrick Foundation in Oklahoma City. The grant became a reality through the work of Dr. Paul Hammond, dean of Oklahoma Baptist University's Warren M. Angell College of Fine Arts. The orchestra is supported by many generous donors from the Shawnee community and funding is provided to support the graduate string quartet that serves as principals.
The concert is free and open to the public. For more information contact the OBU Division of Music at 405-878-2306, or music@okbu.edu.