October 20: MTNA Fall Piano Festival

On Saturday, October 20, College of the Ozarks hosted the MTNA Fall Piano Festival. Piano students ranging in age from elementary students to highschoolers performed pieces for a panel of C of O piano major adjudicators. The adjudicators gave each student a score based on the accuracy and musicality of their pieces. Later that afternoon, selected students performed in an Honors Recital to showcase their talents and gain performance experience. The recital concluded with performances by the college students. The participants showed great potential and were encouraged to continue to work hard and pursue their musical endeavors.

October 20-21: Opera Workshop Scenes

On the weekend of October 20-21, a group of students performed scenes from various operas. Directed by voice professor Rebecca Claborn, this is the first semester of College of the Ozarks’s Opera Scenes Workshop. Ms. Claborn was assisted in refining the scenes by Mr. Gregg Busch and Dr. John Cornish. There were 13 student performers: Ashley Mattingly, Jordan Bryant, Riley Eggebraaten, Adrienne Rendon, James McBride, Joanie Jorash, Spencer Fleury, Jennifer Beal, Kandice Riley, Emily LaVelle, Abraham Martin, Elizabeth Jordan, and Natalie Hensarling. Hudson Powers served as MC modeled an array of costume changes, including a fruit-decked turban. Ms. Claborn chose humorous, high-energy scenes, which she translated into English. She wanted the performers to focus on establishing a relationship with the audience, showing that opera can be just as fun and relatable for the audience members as it is for the performers.