University of Arkansas at Little Rock

Departmental Auditions will be held on:

February 27, 2009
3:00pm- 6:00pm
Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall, Fine Arts Building.
UALR Campus

Our audition process has three components. In order to qualify for a Music Department Scholarship, a student must declare as a music major or minor once admitted to UALR. Each student is required to participate during the audition day in each of the following components in order to provide you and the faculty with the best possible information about your current musical achievement level.

• A performance audition of two contrasting pieces on your principal instrument/voice - You will be heard by members of the performance faculty and the results of your audition will help place you with the appropriate private studio instructor and/or student ensemble. Additionally, the audition is used by the faculty to determine if a student will receive a scholarship offer.
• A Theory Placement Assessment – Even if you have had no prior music theory training and are not at present an experienced note-reader, this assessment allows the Music Department to place you in the appropriate theory/music literacy course, the very basis of formal music study.  
• Keyboard Skills Evaluation – Each music major at UALR is required to pass a piano proficiency. This evaluation will place you in the appropriate group piano course, or if you are a pianist, will allow the faculty to provide you with instruction appropriate to your level of piano/keyboard proficiency.

To obtain an audition placement you must contact Dr. Keating at 501-569-3499 or btkeating@ualr.edu to verify your participation. You may also contact the main music office at 501-569-3294.

Here is a link to our scholarship application form:
UALR Music Department Scholarship Application Form

Here is a link to our scholarship page:
Scholarship Webpage

“Viva Verdi!” UALR Music Department Benefit
February 21st

Music-lovers in Little Rock will have a rare opportunity to hear the works of Giuseppe Verdi, the greatest Italian opera composer of the 19th century.

The concert, entitled “Viva Verdi!”, will feature former Metropolitan Opera bass-baritone Edward Crafts, whose career has included London’s Royal Opera, the Vienna Staatsoper and the Rome Opera. He will be joined by soprano Susan Belcher (Chicago Lyric Opera), and UALR faculty members, Paul Vogler, Kira Keating and Heather Crafts in arias and ensembles from Verdi’s best-known operas, including Rigoletto, La Traviata, Un Ballo in Maschera, Otello Don Carlo and Nabucco. Dr. Bevan Keating will conduct the UALR Concert Choir in several familiar choruses, assisted by tenor Matthew Tatus and soprano Linda Winter.

“Viva Verdi!” will be presented on Saturday, Feb. 21 at 7:30 p.m. in UALR’s Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall, located in the Fine Arts Building. Following the concert, there will be a champagne reception with the artists in the adjacent Bailey Alumni Center.

The concert raises money to support orchestral accompaniment for opera and choral performances on UALR’s Vocal Arts Series. Tickets, which include the champagne reception, are $75, of which $60 is a tax-deductible contribution. UALR Students are admitted free, but must reserve their tickets in advance. Tickets are available by calling the UALR Music Department at 569-8993.

Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall, Fine Arts Building. Admission free. Call (501) 569-3294

Selections by Mozart, Hindemith, and Schumann 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 13.  Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall, Fine Arts Building. Admission free. Call (501) 569-3294.

Friday, February 13 at 7:30 p.m. at the University Theatre of the Performing Arts Building, UALR Campus. Hear arrangements of Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” and RadioHead.

 Tickets $10 adults, $5 children 12 & under, UALR students free with ID. Tickets available at the door. Call (501)569-3294.

Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall, Fine Arts Building. Admission free. Call (501) 569-3294

Tuesday, February 10, 2009 7:30pm. UALR Faculty members Susan Belcher and Naoki Hakutani are joined by Asako Kuboki, violinist with the St. Louis Symphony. They are performing selections by Messiaen, Ravel, Faure, Graves.

Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall, Fine Arts Building. Admission free. Call (501)569-3294 for information.

ViVa!, a new organization offering volunteer support to the Music Department at UALR, is providing assistance for music faculty and students in the presentation of concerts and other major musical events.

Not a fundraising group, ViVa! volunteers will provide backstage and front-of-the-house help with props, box office, ushering, publicity, concession workers, and production assistance for the two fully staged operas and two choral concerts, all with orchestral accompaniment, presented each season as well as many vocal and instrumental recitals.

What’s in it for the volunteers?

• Meeting and working with others who support the arts.
• Have fun! No meetings, committees, officers, nor dues, just a little time well spent.
• Complimentary ticket to each event worked.
• Invitation to receptions following events.
• Sit in on rehearsals.
• Getting to know our performers personally. Follow their careers in the future.
• Participate in volunteer appreciation events. Translation: Parties.

Upcoming ViVA! volunteer opportunities include the UALR Community Chorus performance of Carmina Burana March 21 and UALR’s Opera Theater’s performance of La Tragedie de Carmen April 17 and 19

To join up, send a note to viva.ualr@gmail.com.