Gans to Perform at OBU Vocal Honors Academy

Oklahoma Baptist University's Division of Music will host the third annual Vocal Honors Academy Oct. 14-15, with select high school choral directors invited to send two of their most outstanding vocalists to this free workshop.

The workshop is designed to develop and polish the talent and skills for the individual singer who may be considering music as a career. The program involves private lessons with college professors, a guest artist recital, performance technique classes, choral rehearsal visit, an introduction to college level music theory, and an opportunity to interact with OBU students and music faculty.

This year's guest artist is soprano Judith Gans. Gans, a native Californian, holds a bachelor's degree from the University of North Texas, a master's degree from Texas Christian University, and has completed extensive work toward a doctor of musical arts degree from UNT.

She was a member of the voice faculty at TCU for 13 years, teaching voice, diction, vocal pedagogy, vocal literature, and directing the opera workshop. She is an active member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, and has performed extensively with a number of major orchestras in works including the requiems of Brahms, Faure, and Mozart, as well as the ninth symphony of Beethoven.

She maintains a position as an authority on the music of Iceland, a relationship begun in 1996 with a performance of Icelandic songs for a summer symposium directed by Richard Miller of Oberlin Conservatory. She has performed in Iceland, to outstanding reviews. Her CD Draumalandio has successfully sold in both the United States and Canada, and has been ordered online from Europe, North American, Asia, and Australia.

For more information, please contact the OBU Division of Music at 405-878-2306, or via email at music@okbu.edu.