Chorale to Present Messiah

The University Chorale of Oklahoma Baptist University will perform parts II and III of Handel's Messiah in a spring concert, April 16, at 8 p.m. in the university's Potter Auditorium.

The 40-member mixed voice chorus will present the Lenten, Easter and post-resurrection portions of the classic choral work. The group will be accompanied by faculty soloists and members of the Shawnee Community Orchestra and Symphonic Band.

OBU faculty soloists will be soprano Norma Partridge, associate professor of music, alto Rhetta Hudson, associate professor of music, tenor Jon Gruett, associate professor of music, and bass Don Clark, associate professor of music.

The orchestra will include OBU faculty and students and the Red River Quartet, a group of graduate strings students at the University of Oklahoma that form the core of the Shawnee Community Orchestra strings section.

The Chorale is under the direction of Dr. Nancy Lippens, OBU professor of music. Her student rehearsal conductors for the spring concert are Darin Chapin, a senior music education major from Coal City, Ill., and Stephanie Moring a voice performance and trumpet major from Tecumseh.

OBU student rehearsal accompanists are Anna Kurtz, a freshman from Heber Springs, Ark., and Olivier David, a freshman from Quatre Bornes, France. Dr. Ron Davis, OBU professor of organ, is the faculty rehearsal accompanist.

The University Chorale performs at OBU Convocations, Founders' Day and other Chapel events. The Chorale also appears at the university's annual Homecoming Musical Gala and the Hanging of the Green. In addition, the group conducts annual tours across the United States.

The Chorale has performed at the Southwest Division Convention of the American Choral Directors Association, the Oklahoma Music Educators Association In-Service Workshop, and the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary Church Music Workshop.

The group has produced several recordings, including a c.d. that was released in 1999.

Dr. Nancy Cobb Lippens, OBU professor of music and Chorale conductor, has been a member of the university's faculty since 1976, and is an OBU graduate. She received her master of music degree from Michigan State University and a doctorate in music from the University of Oklahoma.