The OBU-Shawnee Community Orchestra’s Eighth Season Spring Concert is scheduled for Tuesday in Raley Chapel’s Potter Auditorium at 7:30.
The program will highlight the music of Richard Wagner, Ludwig van Beethoven, George Butterworth, John Rutter, and the legendary Leroy Anderson who is solidly entrenched in American popular culture for his delightful miniatures.
Conductor of the ensemble since its inception is Dr. Jim Hansford, Burton Patterson Professor of Music, director of bands, and coordinator of instrumental studies since 1990.
Also spotlighted on the program will be a performance by the MacArthur Quartet, a string quartet in joint residence at OU and OBU, whose members serve as principal players in the orchestra.
They are: Martin Dalton and Tiffany Shih violins, Ana Maria Wilson, viola and Philipp Gulidov, cello. “These outstanding students are pursuing either a masters or doctoral degree in performance at the University of Oklahoma,” said Hansford. They will be performing the Allegro Bizzaro movement from the Luigi Boccherini “Quartet, Op. 32, No. 4 in C Major.”
Orchestral works on the program include: Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 7, 2nd Movement,” “A Shropshire Lad Rhapsody” by George Butterworth, “Salute To Broadway” arranged by Carl Strommen, and “Rienzi Overture” by Richard Wagner. Works featuring the orchestral strings include the John Rutter “Suite for Strings” and “Song of Remembrance” by Elena Roussanova Lucas, a work reflecting on the tragedy of September 11, 2001, in New York City.
“Since this is the centennial of the birth of popular American composer Leroy Anderson, the orchestra will be highlighting three of this American icon of popular culture’s most popular works,’ remarked Hansford. The program will include “The Typewriter,” “Blue Tango” and “The Syncopated Clock.”
Leroy Anderson is considered by many to be one of America’s four greatest 20th century composers of instrumental music, alongside George Gershwin, Aaron Copland, and Charles Ives. Most people will be familiar with Anderson’s most popular work, the Christmas classic, “Sleigh Ride.”
About half of the 50 member ensemble comes from the surrounding community including McLoud, Ada, Norman, Oklahoma City, Tecumseh, Choctaw, Edmond, Harrah, Dale, Okmulgee, and Shawnee while the remaining members are OBU students including many music majors.
The ensemble divides almost equally between OBU students and community folks.
The orchestra’s string section is comprised of about 24 players. Along with that, there is a full complement of the standard orchestral wind and percussion sections.
Orchestra members range in age from 17 to 80 years old and include folks from a wide range of professions including educators, private music teachers, OBU staff, and a retired cardiologist. The first public appearance of the SCO was at the 2001 OBU “Hanging of the Green” program, where it performed the Ralph Vaughan Williams “Fantasia on Greensleaves” in addition to other general program numbers.
The community orchestra was organized in the fall of 2001 with the 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. Now, 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 open to the public and there is no admission charge.
SHAWNEE, Okla. —
