Students and faculty from the Arkansas Tech University Department of Music will perform the 15th annual Feast of Carols concert on Sunday, Dec. 4, at First United Methodist Church of Russellville.
The concert will begin at 2:30 p.m. Admission is free, but those attending are asked to bring canned goods and other non-perishable food items for distribution to those in need.
Performance groups will include the Concert Chorale and Chamber Choir from Arkansas Tech, both of which are directed by Gary E. Morris.
Brian Conatser will provide accompaniment on piano, while Mary Lou Douglas will accompany on organ.
Additional brass, woodwind and percussion musicians will also be incorporated into the concert, including a brass quintet of faculty members Dr. Sean Reed and Dr. TJ Perry, alumnus Richard Niven and students Alex Evans and David Slutsky.
Morris said that one of the highlighted works during the performance will be “Alpha and Omega,” which was composed by Gwyneth Walker of Braintree, Vt., and is based upon familiar carols. Dr. Barbara Clements, Dr. Jon Clements and Holly Ruth Gale of the Arkansas Tech music faculty will appear as soloists.
Arkansas Tech University alumnus Sean Sweeden’s composition “Dancing Day” will be performed during the concert. A native of Morrilton, Sweeden graduated from Arkansas Tech in 2010. He is a doctoral candidate at the University of Missouri at Kansas City.
For a fourth consecutive year, the Arkansas Tech choral program will honor an individual of significance to the university as part of the Feast of Carols concert. The individual selected for recognition this year is Julie Morgan of Russellville, an alumna of the Arkansas Tech Department of Music and member of the Tech staff from 1998-2015.
Morgan served in the roles of assistant to the president (1998-2004 and 2008-15) and director of alumni relations (2004-08).
For more information about public performances hosted by the Arkansas Tech Department of Music, call (479) 968-0368 or visit www.atu.edu/music.
