Local Orchestra to Debut Tuesday

The newly organized Shawnee Community Orchestra will present its debut concert Tuesday, April 2, at 7:30 p.m. in Oklahoma Baptist University's Yarborough Auditorium. 

Under the baton of Dr. Jim Hansford, OBU professor of music, the 50-member ensemble will perform favorite orchestral works including music by Schubert, Mozart, Haydn, Copland, Vaughan Williams, and Gliere.

The orchestra was organized in the fall of 2001 with the assistance of a grant from the Kirkpatrick Foundation in Oklahoma City. Dr. Paul Hammond, dean of OBU's Warren M. Angell College of Fine Arts, organized the grant.

The grant provided the funds to form a graduate string quartet, which is shared jointly by the University of Oklahoma and OBU. The members of the Red River Quartet serve as the principal string players in SCO and instructors at OBU. Members of the quartet are Ruth Klein and George Figueroa, violin; Mary Ferstl, viola; and Sarah Kapps, cello.

The grant also provides necessary funds for orchestral literature and scholarships for OBU string students.

Half of the orchestra's membership comes for the surrounding community including McLoud, Ada, Chandler, Norman, Oklahoma City, Tecumseh, Choctaw, Edmond, and Shawnee. The remaining members are music majors and students at OBU.

"We regionally publicized auditions last summer, and at the August auditions we were especially surprised by the turnout of interested folks from the community," said Hansford. "We were overjoyed to see the number of OBU string students who showed up for the open auditions too."

Orchestra members range in age from 15 to 80 years old. The SCO's first public appearance was at the OBU "Hanging of the Green" program this past December, performing the Ralph Vaughan Williams "Fantasia on Greensleaves."

The SCO rehearses from 7-9:15 p.m. each Monday in the band hall on the campus of OBU.

Tuesday evening's debut concert program will include a performance of one work by the Red River Quartet, in addition to several full orchestra works. Some of those include:1st movement of "Symphony No. 104 (London)" by Joseph Haydn; "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" by Amadeus Mozart; 1st movement of "Symphony No. 8 (Unfinished)" by Franz Schubert; "Down a Country Lane" by Aaron Copland; "With Quiet Courage" by Larry Daehn; "Russian Sailors Dance" by Gliere; and "English Folk Song Suite" by Ralph Vaughan Williams.

The concert is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Hansford at 878-2307.