Gwang Ju resident selected as Concerto-Aria Concert performer

Jee Choi, an Oklahoma Baptist University sophomore from Gwang Ju, South Korea, has been selected as one of 10 students to perform as part of the university's 35th annual Concerto-Aria Concert on Monday, Feb. 16. The annual concert will begin at 8:30 p.m. in Raley Chapel's Potter Auditorium. The public is invited to attend the free event.

A musical arts major, Choi is the daughter of Song Nyun Choi and Hyang won Lee. She will play cello during a concerto composed by Edward Elgar titled, "Cello Concerto in E Minor Op. 85." Choi is a member of the Shawnee Community Orchestra.

Conductors of the concert are Dr. Jim Hansford, OBU's Burton Patterson professor of music and director of bands, and Dr. David DeSeguirant, OBU associate professor of music and director of choral activities.

"Our Concerto-Aria event is quite unique among undergraduate schools since most similar concert venues at other universities focus primarily on their graduate students," Hansford said. "It is truly a distinctive honor to be afforded an opportunity to perform as an undergraduate with a full orchestra. The rigorous audition process is a virtual laboratory for our performers who plan to compete on the larger world stage of opera, Broadway musicals, or orchestral performance.

"During the 35-year history of these concerts, more than 200 OBU students have performed some of the most significant literature ever composed for solo piano, orchestral instrument or voice," Hansford said.

Located in Shawnee, Okla., OBU offers 10 bachelor's degrees with 83 fields of study. The Christian liberal arts university has an overall enrollment of 1,753, with students from 39 states and 20 other countries. OBU has been rated as one of the top 10 comprehensive colleges in the West by U.S. News and World Report for 17 consecutive years and has been Oklahoma's highest rated comprehensive college in the U.S. News rankings for 15 consecutive years.

Jee Choi, an Oklahoma Baptist University sophomore from Gwang Ju, South Korea, has been selected through audition as one of 10 students to perform as part of the university's 35th annual Concerto-Aria Concert on Monday, Feb. 16. (OBU Photo by Bill Pope)