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Handel's Messiah Performances
2017 marked the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Vesper Choir. This performance is dedicated to the lives and legacies of Professor Ariel "Pops" Lovelace and Professor Shelton J. "Fessor" McGee. The performance is also dedicated to the many Vesper Choir alumni who, over seventy years, have continued to hold dear to their hearts the tradition of service, brotherhood and sisterhood, and of performing music of the highest quality, no matter the genre, no matter the challenge. Each year we are assisted by members of the UAPB concert bands, wind symphony, and by guest string and woodwind players from Central Arkansas and the Memphis area. This annual event marks the official beginning of the Christmas celebration on the UAPB campus.
Dr. Michael J. Bates, director of the Vesper Choir, conducts the performance. He's also assisted by conductor John Graham, Jr., UAPB director of bands, Mr. Andee Book, voice instructor and assistant director of the Vesper Choir, and Mr. John Liddell, music assistant, also assists as well. Guest alumni soloists who were featured in the 2017 Handel's Messiah Performance w Robin Tisdale, soprano, Pine Bluff; Leon Walker, tenor, Kansas City, Missouri; and Duane Jackson, bass, choral teacher in the Pine Bluff School District. Student soloists were soprano Ya’Shontae Joyner-Holt of Moscow, Tennessee, Mary Rowe of Dermott and Kennedi Brown of Monticello. Altos were Robin Roberts, of Memphis, Brandi Perri, of Birmingham, Alabama, and Wantara Tomlin of Tulsa. Keonte Bishop, a tenor, from Milwaukee, Maleek Ware, a baritone, from Pine Bluff, Gregory White, also a baritone, from Kansas City, Missouri, and Jamaal Courtney, a bass, from Pine Bluff. Trumpet professor Demar Woods was the featured trumpet soloist. Members of the orchestra include: Judy Warner, adjunct instructor in the UAPB Music Department, Donna Lee-Thomas, alumnus and music instructor in the Pine Bluff School District, and Tim Clark, alumnus and music instructor in the St. Louis School District. The annual performance of Handel's Messiah this year will be held on December 2, 2018 at the Hathaway-Howard Fine Arts Auditorium.
2017 Handel's Messiah Performance
Pine Bluff Convention Center |
2016 Handel's Messiah Performance
Hathaway-Howard Fine Arts Auditorium |
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Contact Us
Mr. Jerron Liddell, Director
1200 N. University, Mail Slot #4956
Pine Bluff, AR 71601
liddellj@uapb.edu
Office: 870-575-8907