Pine Bluff, AR- The Department of Music at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB) will present the Vesper Choir in their 57th annual performance of Messiah by George Frideric Handel Sunday, December 5 at 3:00 p.m. in the John McLinn Ross Theatre of the Hathaway-Howard Fine Arts building. The performance is free and the public is cordially invited to attend.
The Vesper Choir will be assisted by members of the UAPB Concert Band and Wind Symphony along with guest professional string and woodwind performers. This annual event marks the official beginning of the Christmas celebration on UAPB’s campus.
Dr. Michael J. Bates, Director of the Vesper Choir and Interim Chair of the Department of Music will conduct the performance. He will be assisted by Mr. John Graham, Jr., UAPB Director of Bands and by Dr. Heidi Gordon, Assistant Vesper Choir Director and Instructor of Voice. The Concert Master will be Dr. Christopher Thompson, former Director of the String Division and Professor of Violin in the School of Visual and Performing Arts at the University of Louisiana at Monroe.
This performance will feature several UAPB students as soloists. Soprano soloists will be: Ms. Tamika Walker (senior – Memphis, TN); Ms. Jillian Smith (junior – Kansas City, MO) and Ms. Janitha Lawson (junior – Tulsa, OK). Ms. Jade McCracken (junior – Atlanta, GA) will perform the alto solos. Tenor soloists will be: Mr. Tim Yarbrough (senior – Texarkana, TX); Mr. Garry Grant (junior – Augusta, GA) and Mr. Stephan Burse (junior – Kankakee, IL). Bass soloists will be: Mr. Dennis Henry (senior – Wichita, KS); Mr. Devin Heggie (senior – Kansas City, KS) and Mr. Jacob Hurley (senior – Kansas City, MO).
A special tenor solo will be given by Mr. Leon Walker, a 1989 graduate of UAPB now living in Kansas City, MO. Pine Bluff native Ms. Julia Buckingham will serve as the guest pianist. Ms. Anesha Dexter, former UAPB music faculty member now studying for the Doctorate of Musical Arts degree in flute performance at the University of Kansas, will be the featured flutist along Dr. Richard Bailey, Director of the UAPB Sound Technology program as the featured trumpet soloist.
For more information, contact Dr. Michael Bates at (870)575-8906.
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