USAO Music to Perform OKC Bombing Memorial Concert
CHICKASHA, Okla. — An ensemble of University of Science & Arts of Oklahoma students will perform a concert Tuesday night to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing.
The USAO concert choir, chamber choir and string quartet will perform “Lux Aeterna” at the First Baptist Church of Chickasha at 7:30 p.m. The concert is free and open to the public.
‘When we perform music that has a story, the greater we can understand that story allows us to perform with greater sensitivity to the way a composer portrayed it in the music,” said Joshua Smith, USAO assistant professor of music and conductor of Tuesday’s ensemble. “Music expresses our emotions, like human longing, in sound, and when we know that is our goal, we express with true sound.”
Smith led the USAO honor choir in a performance at the Oklahoma City National Memorial
and Museum in Oklahoma City last Wednesday. Smith’s mother survived the bombing almost
30 years ago while working at the nearby water resources board.
“Everything that we do, we try to attach that to a place that is meaningful, thoughtful and insightful,” said Jordan Vinyard, dean of the school of performing and visual arts. “Taking the time to go outside of academia and doing something that is purposed, especially with the connection to one of our own, is really important, not only for us as a community, but for students to see that.”
Ranging from Mozart to Cyndi Lauper, the ensemble will perform a mix of popular and classical music. The concert will last about an hour.
About the University of Science & Arts of Oklahoma
As Oklahoma’s liberal arts college, the University of Science & Arts of Oklahoma provides a distinctive education in the liberal arts and sciences, supporting both its interdisciplinary core curriculum and major fields of study with superior teaching. USAO fosters diversity of thought and practice to help students realize meaningful, purposeful and productive lives as global citizens in a rapidly-changing world.