Music motivates veovle to interact .. . Orchestra students change lives with beautiful music With sweet melodies drifting from the instruments they play, members of the university orchestra worked hard to share their love of music and spread musical cheer to Harding and beyond. Since at least the late 1950s, there has been an orchestra at Harding University. Today's orchestra has about 30 members and is directed by Dr. Patricia Cox, who has directed the orchestra for 16 years. Students are selected to be in the orchestra by auditions in the fall. Most of the musicians in the orchestra are not music majors, but a few are. Whatever their major, they participate in the orchestra because they enjoy the music. "These musicians play in the orchestra because it is an avocation for them and a training for that avocation. Many of these musicians will continue to play or maybe even teach private lessons once they are established adults in their communities," Cox said. Some of the musicians in the orchestra travel to other cities in Arkansas and play with small community orchestras. Ray Patton, a sophomore from Memphis, Tenn., said, "My favorite place to travel to is the Northeast Arkansas Symphony in Jonesboro. We have traveled there several times, and it is a great opportunity to play with other talented musicians and make a little extra money doing what I love to do, which is play the violin." The orchestra also travels to the Delta region ofArkansas to do their service project in that area. Cox explained that "music gets people to interact and participate with each other and this interaction pours over into their work environment, helping the workers get along and be more productive. Music is critical to getting economically depressed people back into participating with society as a whole." From the university orchestra, some of the best string players are invited to be in a string quartet. The university orchestra has two such quartets, one made up of students and the other comprised offaculty and staff. These quartets are booked to play for special gatherings such as weddings and parties. Shannon Erickson, a junior from Carrollton, Texas, is in the student quartet. "I really like to play in the smaller ensemble. There are so many things you can do with the smaller group that is hard to do with the whole orchestra. I got the opportunity to learn a new instrument, plus the other players are good musicians and fun to work with," she said. The university orchestra developed special relationships with those they performed with, and these talented musicians served the university and the community with beautiful melodies from their instruments as well. This musical training is designed to enable them to make an impact on many lives in their future communities as a result of their experiences at Harding. - Hallie Bell University Singers. First row: R. McCarty, R. Robbins, C. Wiles, E. McMackin, K. George, A. Stoltenberg, C. Hutson, C. Pena, M. Ortega, C. Castillo, A. Lazo. S econd row: M. Wooldridge, R. Vann, D. Bradley, K. Moody, Y. Fletcher, M. Tittle, D. Madlaing, A. Aguilar, L. Hofschild, M. S chmidt, C. Boyd. Third row: R. Coombs, J . James, J. Black, T . Case, A. Spurlock, K. Springer, C. Parker, E. Butler, G. Peace, J . Carlson. Fourth row: C. McCarty, A. King, S. Glenn, C. Matthews, M. Troyer, B .J. Askey, J . Ruhl, A. Patterson, T . Davenport, L. Maximoua, J. Hutchinson. Fifth row: A. Yecke, A. Lee, H. Pierce, B. Prater, B . Wyatt, S. Wilson, R. McFarland, R. McLain, A. Gustafson, K. Fosbinder, A. Drayton, A. Black . Sixth row: A. Lucas, M. Irwin, A. Cooper, T . Gable, D. Dean, D. Gaskins, J . Forbess, B. Walker, D. Rackley, J. Baker, J . Dulaney. S eventh row: C. Ganus (faculty sponsor), T . Williams , M. Hollis, B. Wallace, C. Charles, S. Huff, J. Shauer, G. Sutherlin, T . Anderson, J . Pitt, D. Black, A. Cash . Photo by Aaron Gillihan. University Orchestra. First row: L. Pearson, M. Glasgow, E. Albright, A. Lucas, H. McDonald, S. Erickson. Second row: P. Cox (faculty sponsor), A. Driver, S. Sneed, C. Parker, J. Inman. Third row: N. Tomasi, S. Spradling, R. Ward, S . Shirel, W. Jones. Fourth row: T. Ruff, R. Scott, J. Chance, D. Johnston, J. Rimer. Photo by Aaron Gillihan. University Orchestra and University Singers 209
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