ARKADELPHIA, Ark.—Ouachita Baptist University’s Division of Music will host Amanda Murray, Bethany Swiontek and Heather White in their sophomore recitals March 4 at 11 a.m. in Mabee Fine Arts Center’s McBeth Recital Hall. The recitals are in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the students’ musical theatre degrees.
Murray, a Racine, Wis., native, is a member of OBU Concert Choir and Ouachita’s chapter of Theta Alpha Phi national theatre honors fraternity and was named a semi-finalist in the state National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) auditions as a freshman. She is a student of Dr. Margaret Garrett, OBU assistant professor of music, and Daniel Inouye, OBU assistant professor of theatre arts.
Murray will perform John Kander’s “All That Jazz” from Chicago, followed by Jerry Bock’s “What Makes Me Love Him” from The Apple Tree and Lucy Caldwell’s “Leaves.” She will be assisted by Ouachita junior Samantha Spradling, a theatre arts major from Italy, Texas, for “Leaves.” Murray will conclude her portion of the recital with Stephen Schwartz’ “What Is This Feeling?” from Wicked; she will be assisted by OBU junior Kathryn Kellogg, a musical theatre and mass communications major from Sherwood, Ark.
Swiontek, a Colorado Springs, Colo., native, is a member of OBU Concert Choir and Women’s Chorus and was also named a semi-finalist in the state NATS auditions as a freshman. She is a student of Dr. Margaret Garrett.
Swiontek will perform Gabriel Fauré’s “Après Un Rêve” and Hugo Wolf’s “In dem Schatten meiner Locken” to open her portion of the recital. She will continue with Giuseppe Verdi’s “Caro Nome” from Rigoletto and Frank Wildhorn’s “Once Upon a Dream” from Jekyll and Hyde. Swiontek will conclude with Frank Loesser’s “Marry the Man Today” from Guys and Dolls.
White, a Houston, Texas, native, is a member of OBU Concert Choir and has been the recipient of several awards from Ouachita’s Department of Theatre, including Best Actress for her work in OBU’s Ten Minute Play Festival, Best Supporting Role for her work in Goldilocks on Trial and Best Makeup for her work on Seussical.
White begin her portion of the recitals with Stephen Sondheim’s “The Worst Pies in London” from Sweeney Todd, followed by Stephen Schwartz’ “Stranger to the Rain” from Children of Eden. She will conclude with Irving Berlin’s “Sisters” from White Christmas.
The recitals are free and open to the public. Phyllis Walker will serve as accompanist for the performances. For more information, contact OBU’s School of Fine Arts as (870) 245-5129.
