TC opens spring music series with soprano

Texarkana College is seen in December 2015 at 2500 N. Robison Road in Texarkana, Texas.
Texarkana College is seen in December 2015 at 2500 N. Robison Road in Texarkana, Texas.

Texarkana College's spring series of music programs is alive with the voice, starting with a soprano recital next week.

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Presented by the TC music department, the first concert features singer Janice Aiken with professor Mary Scott Goode accompanying on piano. It starts at 5:30 p.m., on Friday, Jan. 25, in the Stilwell Humanities Music Hall. Admission is free.

Joining Aiken and Goode will be Howard Goode, Emily Rickett, Amy Freedman, Brookie Walker and Kari M. Kennon.

"She's done some really interesting programming," said Mary Scott Goode about Aiken's repertoire. While she's featured with plentiful solos, she will also sing duets and one work as a soprano soloist with a female quartet. The latter is a Schubert ensemble work.

"That's really a unique piece," Goode said. "You don't often hear things like that. It gives some of these really good singers from our area a chance to be involved in the program, too."

She'll also sing a group of songs about the sky, the stars and the planets. "The voice is so interesting because it involves text, so you just have this additional component that you don't get anywhere else in music," Goode said. "You have these wonderful, beautiful texts, great poetry."

Based in Shreveport, La., Aiken teaches voice at TC. "We feel really lucky to have her. She's marvelous," Goode said. "And she's a tremendously experienced teacher and performer, really doing a fine job."

She performed at TC's faculty showcase this past fall, but this marks her first big presentation for TC. The concert is a one-hour program right after the traditional work day ends.

"Pretty quickly another highlight is Wednesday, Feb. 6, 11 a.m. Of course this is in February. It's a Black History Month event," Goode said. The program is "Songs of African-American Composers," which features baritone Robert Allen (a TC alum), soprano JoLaunda Kings-Adams and pianist Sydney Barber. It's free at the Truman Arnold Student Center Great Room.

"We're hoping for a pretty big audience for this one," Goode said.

The Grambling State University and Professor Natorshau Davis, its director, will present a music workshop, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., on Saturday, Feb. 9, at the Stilwell Humanities Music Hall. Admission is free and all are welcome to join.

A couple of Music and Movies events are scheduled: "Recorded Sound" presented by Howard Goodall at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 18, and "Conlon Nancarrow: Virtuoso of the Player Piano" at 7 p.m. Monday, April 8. Both are in the Music Hall and free to see.

TC students present recitals at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 26, and 11 a.m. Tuesday, April 30, in the Music Hall. They're free. On Wednesday, April 3, 12:30 p.m. in the Music Hall, pianist Dusten Michael Ingram presents an alumni recital. He's a former student of Goode's.

And on Saturday, May 4, the voice theme continues with a choral workshop guided by Dr. Wallace Long, guest clinician, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. in the Music Hall. The day-long rehearsal is capped off by a 4 p.m. performance. It's free for Texarkana Regional Chorale members, $20 for community members.

The Texarkana Regional Chorale, which has a close partnership with TC and can serve as a class for TC students, has three concerts planned: "Soulfest! A Black History Month Celebration" at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 10, Sullivan Performing Arts Center; "Carnivals of Mardi Gras" at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 5, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church; and "Cohen's Alzheimer Stories and Orff's Carmina Burana" at 7 p.m. on Saturday, April 13, at the Perot Theatre.

(For more information, contact Mary Scott Goode at [email protected] or 903-823-3371, or Dee Dee Jones at [email protected] at 903-823-3360.)

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