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OBU—Oklahoma Baptist University

Memorial Recital to Honor Digby Bell

March 4, 2011

Oklahoma Baptist University music faculty and guests will present the seventh-annual Digby Bell Memorial Recital on Thursday, March 10, at 7:30 p.m. in Yarborough Auditorium, located inside Raley Chapel on the OBU campus. The community is invited to attend the performance.

The recital will feature Dr. Kevin Pruiett, OBU associate professor of music and coordinator of instrumental music, on trumpet; Dr. Michael Dean, assistant professor of music, on piano; Adam Ray, a 2005 OBU graduate, on saxophone; David Wellman on piano; former OBU student Timothy Thompson on bass; and adjunct professor George Toumayan on drums.

The program will include "Concerto in D" by Giuseppe Tartini; "Sonata for Trumpet and Piano" by Halsey Stevens; "Refrain for Solo Trumpet" by Zack Browning; "Summertime" by George Gershwin and DuBose Heyward; and "Take the 'A' Train" by Billy Strayhorn.

Dr. Digby Bell is the late husband of Dr. Carol Ann Bell, senior professor of piano at OBU. Trained in music as a child, Digby Bell discovered his love for piano performance around age 9. His passion for the piano led him to study at schools such as the Julliard School in New York. Bell received both his bachelor's and master's degrees at the University of Michigan. Soon after graduating from Michigan, he began teaching at the University of Oklahoma. While there, he earned his doctorate from the University of North Texas.

Bell taught and performed at OU for more than 40 years during his time in Oklahoma. For 25 of those years, he served as the chairman of the OU keyboard department. He was named professor emeritus upon his retirement in 1990. Bell performed many times with the Oklahoma City Symphony and, as a result, had several of his performances broadcast worldwide through the Armed Forces Radio and the Canadian Broadcast Company.

Digby and Carol Ann Bell were well known in Oklahoma as a duo pianist team. Digby Bell passed away on March 5, 2004. Carol Ann Bell retired from OBU in 2010 after 20 years of service.