Bellebration

On April 17th, the final handbell concert, “Bellebration,” was hosted at the College’s very own Royal Oak Forum in the Keeter Center. “Bellebration” is one of the largest handbell productions in the history of College of the Ozarks. Mrs. Marilyn Droke, the director of the handbell concert for 30 years, is retiring after this semester. Past handbell alumni from all around the United States are coming to participate in this special event, ending Mrs. Droke’s career with a resounding “ring” that will echo for the future handbell students of C of O.

With many newspaper articles, competition winnings, special events, and travels, the Handbell Choir of C of O has an impressive record. Highlights include travelling to Austria and the Czech Republic in 2007 along with Ireland and England in 2011. They have played for many C of O events, including major convocations with Mike Krzyzewski and Benjamin Netanyahu. In addition to these astounding accomplishments, they regularly have their own concerts during the semester and even played for Miss America at the Branson Grand Palace in 2000.

Mrs. Droke, in response to how she was feeling prior to the “Bellebration” event, said, “I am very excited about our upcoming concert. The College Handbell Choir is one of the best ever. They are hard workers and have accomplished so much. The returning Alumni handbell ringers are all excited about ringing again and playing their favorites. It should be a wonderful event.” Many of the students are very sad to see Mrs. Droke retiring, however they have many happy memories of her and the time spent playing handbells. One of the current handbell students, Emily Farris, is a senior culinary arts major with a minor in hotel and restaurant management. She has participated in handbells for a total of eight semesters! She stated, “It is my last concert, as well as a few others in the group – so it is exciting and sad at the same time… [I will miss] the laughs that we’ve had as a group… the memories that were made are unforgettable! I love the sense of community that come from playing with handbells. All of us in the choir are extremely different, but with handbells it brings you together almost, and makes it sort of like a family.”

An Amercian Sampler: Featuring Dr. Michael Oriatti and Dr. Sarah Weston

An American Sampler On March 16th, 2016, College of the Ozarks hosted a guest recital titled, An American Sampler, featuring Dr. Michael Oriatti, tenor and assistant professor of music at Lyon College and Dr. Sarah Weston, pianist and adjunct professor of music at Lyon College. The concert opened with a slow piece called “Sure On This Shining Night” by Samuel Barber. Then Dr. Oriatti sang a set of songs focused on love. The first was “Outside This House” from Vanessa and was a sad song about a lover who does not win his true love. He cries out, “How happy we could be together”. The next song is a happier love song titled “With You”. The last two in the set of love songs are by Leonard Bernstein that sounded like it was in a minor key. The first one titled, “Extinguish My Eyes”, was a song about how the lover could still love this person no matter what happened to them. One line from the song went, “Break off my arms and I can embrace you.”

He described the next song as a song “after love, or after life”. It was called, “In That Morning”, and was about going home to heaven. He sang repeatedly of “hearing the sounding trumpets” and how you could bury him in the west or east, but he would still end up in heaven. Then there was a short break from the vocal pieces as Dr. Weston played a piece by herself called “Summerland” by Willian Grant Still. The piece was very pleasing to the ear and a nice change.

The next set was focused on nature. Dr. Oriatti came back on stage and sang a song called “Rain” which was a more light-hearted piece. The piano introduction sounded like rain as it consisted of high notes cascading down in a merry way. The lyrics and music matched each other, painting a picture of rain. He sang “Sometimes rain is fast and sometimes rain is slow” and the tempo matched the words. The next song was called, “My Master Hath a Garden”. It described many aspects of nature such as flowers and everglades and sunlight, but it also incorporated faith as he sang, “Make my heart a garden plot.”

Dr. Weston played a fun ragtime by Scott Joplin and then Dr. Oriatti did a set of songs by Stephen Foster. The first, “Ah! May the Red Rose Live Alway!”, spoke of the longing for the beautiful things to last forever. It spoke, “Why should the beautiful die?” and “Long may the daisies dance in the field”. The most lively song was next titled, “Some Folks” and repeated “some folks fret and some folks scold” and so on and the chorus was a rousing, “Long live the merry, merry heart!” He did a song called “Hard Times Come Again No More” and did something unique at the end of the song. He invited the audience to sing along on the last chorus of the song. He ended the set by Stephen Foster by singing “Laura Lee,” proclaiming the world was like a desert without the smile of his sweet Laura Lee.

The precursor to the final piece was another piano solo by Dr. Weston and it was titled “The Banjo”, Op. 15 and it was very fun and lively. It sounded like a song you might hear at a country-dance. At the end of the piece, it appeared as if her fingers were flying as she played a very fast part that seemed very difficult. Lastly, Oriatti and Weston finished the concert with a song fitting for the end titled, “May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You”. It was a soothing slow song that one could not help being lulled in a peace. The lyrics, “May your troubles all be small ones” and “May you walk in sunlight” put a lovely feeling in your soul and ended in applause from the audience.

Looking into the Future

Chris Benham serves as conductor for the College of the Ozark's Chamber Orchestra 

Chris Benham graduated from the College of the Ozarks in Spring 2014 and now has a bright future ahead of him. He got a Master of Arts degree in music and is now conducting his own orchestra and has plans to go on to graduate school. Chris took a conducting class at College of the Ozarks taught by Dr. Bruce Gerlach and he took private conducting lessons with Dr. Kevin Powers. These classes were very helpful in expanding his skills as a conductor. He also increased his knowledge by taking a master class in conducting at Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio.

His favorite part of college was the conducting classes he took and actually being a part of starting the orchestra at College of the Ozarks. Chris loves music and chose to make it his career path because he never gets tired of it and no matter what kind of week he is having, he always looks forward to conduct the orchestra and soak in the music.

As Chris looks to the future, he has big plans and exciting dreams. Over the summer he plans to go to the Academy for Advance Conducting in West Virginia and study under a professor from the St. Petersburg Conservatory. In September he will travel to Turkey and get the opportunity to conduct the National Art Orchestra of Italy in Florence for a master class. Then they will perform at the Capriccio Italian Festival.

In the Fall of 2017, Chris plans to attend graduate school, but at this time he hasn’t decided on which one, but he knows he wants to go more in depth with orchestral conducting. The piece of advice Chris would give to students considering a career path in music is, “Be entrepreneurial”. He encourages students to find and make their own opportunities. If you actively seek opportunities, you will go far. He also says it is important to seek advice from experienced musicians and lean on them for knowledge.