University Chorale to Host Spring Concert April 16

The University Chorale will host its spring concert April 16. The performance, titled, “The Lord is Ris’n Indeed,” will take place in Raley Chapel’s Potter Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. and is free of charge. The University Chorale is OBU’s premiere mixed vocal ensemble.

As this concert falls during Holy Week, the University Chorale will present a program depicting the death and resurrection of Christ through a variety of composers and styles. Works will include “Lamb of God” by F. Melius Christansen, W.A. Mozart's “Ave verum corpus,” the “Crucifixus” and “Et resurrexit” from J.S. Bach's Mass in B minor, and “Easter Anthem” by William Billings. The second part of the concert features secular works including “Nyon, Nyon” by Jake Runestad, “Every Night” by Gwyneth Walker, and Kim Andre Arnesen's “Flight Song.”

Student soloists will include Bryson Cunningham, junior from Amarillo, Texas; Kalyne Henrichsen, junior from Hastings, Minnesota; and Raelyn Williamson, sophomore from Byng, Oklahoma.

This concert will also mark the final concert of Dr. D. Brent Ballweg as conductor of the University Chorale. Ballweg, who has served as the Burton H. Patterson Professor of Music and director of choral activities in the Division of Music for the past nine years, will be leaving OBU at the end of the semester and bringing to a close 37 years of collegiate teaching and choral conducting.

Beginning July 1, he will join the National Office of the American Choral Directors Association as their associate director and conference liaison. Founded in 1959, the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) is a nonprofit music education organization whose expressed purposes outline the association's dedication to the advancement of choral music. The mission of ACDA is to inspire excellence in choral music through education, performance, composition and advocacy. ACDA's National Office is located in downtown Oklahoma City.