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OBU—Oklahoma Baptist University

OBU Music Prep Department to Hold Choir Auditions Aug 20-21

August 16, 2018

Oklahoma Baptist University’s Music Preparatory Department will conduct auditions for its choirs Aug. 20-21 from 3 to 5 p.m. in OBU’s Raley Chapel room 141. All interested students in grades 3-12 from Shawnee and the surrounding area are invited to audition.
 
Auditioning students will be asked to sing “Happy Birthday” and are auditioned in order of arrival. Two choirs are available for various age groups. All girls and boys, with both changed and unchanged voices, are encouraged to audition. The tuition fee is $150 per semester or $300 for the year.
 
Beginning its 36th year and continuing its strong tradition, Shawnee Honor Choir is an auditioned group of third through seventh graders from Shawnee and the surrounding area. The children study and perform a wide variety of music ranging from unison songs to the more challenging two- and three-part treble choir literature. Performance on Orff instruments, hand chimes and rhythm instruments is also an enjoyable aspect of this choir experience. The choir, which meets at OBU on Tuesday afternoons from 3:30 to 5:15 p.m., has performed six times for the Oklahoma Music Educators Association State Convention in Tulsa.
 
This August, Conchita Hansford announced her retirement from the direction of Shawnee Honor Choir. Dr. Patty Nelson, associate professor of music education, is the new director of Shawnee Honor Choir, continuing the decades-long tradition of excellence Hansford established with the group. Nelson has been working with children’s choirs for more than 30 years. She most recently directed the Joyful Noise, in Rome, Georgia, and is Orff certified.
 
Concert Choir is designed to provide eighth through twelfth graders with singing experiences that increase individual musicianship and enhance personal growth and development. The choir is represented by students from many area upper middle schools and high schools. Along with two on-campus concerts each year, the choir performs for schools, as well as Brookdale, an assisted living facility in Shawnee. The choir, directed by Dr. Louima Lilite, associate professor of music, rehearses Tuesday afternoons from 5 to 6:30 p.m.
 
The OBU Music Preparatory Department, directed by Dr. Abigail Mace, assistant professor of music, also offers private lessons in piano, voice, strings, winds andpercussion, plus a jazz ensemble and group piano classes. For more information and to enroll, please visit the Music Prep Department website, www.okbu.edu/music-prep, contact the department at (405) 585-4329 or prep@okbu.edu.