Annual President's Concert Feb. 15

From left: Wesley Gangluff, Luke Fields, Riley Brule, Morgan Lee, Adrian Hernandez, and Zaquary Hale.

Henderson State University’s Department of Music will present its annual President’s Concert at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 15 in the Russell Fine Arts Harwood Recital Hall. The program features student soloists selected as winners of a competition in November.

“The opportunity for some of our best students to perform solo works accompanied by an orchestra, including members of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, is one of the highlights of our entire year,” said Dr. Steve Becraft, coordinator of the competition.

The concert will also honor Drs. Charles and Ann Rye, retired professors of music at Henderson.

Soloists include:

• Morgan Lee, a soprano from Malvern, who will perform “Batti, batti o bel MasettoSul fil d’un soffio etesio” from Verdi’s Falstaff.

• Luke Fields, a saxophone player from New Boston, Texas, will perform Glazunov’s Saxophone Concerto.

• Wesley Gangluff, a euphonium player from Bryant, will perform the first movement of Joseph Horovitz’s Concerto for Euphonium.

• Zaquary Hale, a flautist from Bryant, will perform Doppler’s Fantaisie Pastorale Hongroise.

• Riley Brule, a pianist from De Kalb, Texas, will perform the first movement of Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in F major.

Competition judges also awarded honorable mention to Adrian Hernandez, a saxophonist from De Queen.

Charles and Ann Rye have both been honored by Henderson as Distinguished Alumni. They became Golden Reddies in 2019 as graduates of the Class of 1969.

The Ryes met at Henderson as freshmen music instrumental majors in 1965, and were hired to teach at Henderson in 1972 after completing graduate school. They served their entire careers as music professors at Henderson.

The concert is free and open to the public.

For more information, contact Becraft at 230-5412 or becrafs@hsu.edu.