The residency will take place June 14-21 and marks Mason’s debut as the featured conductor of the festival, which will bring together American choral groups to perform in some of Europe’s most iconic musical settings.

“This is the first residency where I am the featured conductor, and I couldn’t be more honored,” Mason said. “It’s especially meaningful that I’ll be conducting in Vienna, a city with such a rich musical legacy.”

As part of the residency, Mason will conduct “Dixit Dominus” by 18th-century composer Marianna Martines, a contemporary of Mozart and Haydn whose music has only recently begun receiving the recognition it deserves. The featured performance will take place Wednesday, June 17, at the historic Minoritenkirche in Vienna, with the Symphonischesorchester Wien and distinguished soloists.

“It’s a piece I’ve especially enjoyed throughout my career,” Mason said. “The charm of performing Martines’s music in her home city, where there’s no record of it ever being performed in her lifetime, makes this an incredibly powerful moment. She was a woman composer in a time when that was rare, and to bring her work to the forefront in this setting feels like reclaiming part of that history.”

The trip, organized through MidAm International, a division of MidAmerica Productions—the same organization Mason has twice conducted with at Carnegie Hall—includes guided tours of Vienna and Salzburg, visits to Mozart’s birthplace, Beethoven’s home, Schönbrunn Palace, and St. Stephen’s Cathedral. A second, smaller chamber concert may also take place at Mullner Kirche in Salzburg.

Mason’s invitation to conduct is a direct result of her successful past collaborations with MidAmerica Productions.

“They’ve seen me work, they know I can run a rehearsal, and they offered me a choice of residencies in Europe,” she said. “Austria stood out for the music and the timing. I’ve always wanted to do summer conducting in Europe, and this is a dream come true.”

Students, alumni, faculty, staff, and community members are invited to join Mason for the trip, either as singers or as traveling companions to singers. Participants will be part of the Ozark Festival Singers, one of Mason’s affiliated ensembles. The Arkansas Chamber Singers, as well as an Arkansas high school choir, and musical groups from around the country will also join the performance.

Anyone interested in participating in the residency should contact Mason at ldmason@ualr.edu.

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The concert will take place in the Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall on ����Vlog��ý Little Rock’s campus.

This semester’s concert features performances by a number of ����Vlog��ý Little Rock Choirs—Concert Choir, Chamber Singers, Women’s Chorus, and Night Shift—who will be performing selections by Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Brahms, Mendelssohn, and more.

While the ����Vlog��ý Little Rock Choirs have typically performed more contemporary pieces, Dr. Lorissa Mason, director of choral activities, shares what it means to perform works from the traditional canon.

“Exploring these ideas reveals that we are not so different from those who lived and worked in other places in the world and in ages past,” Mason said. “To be human carries with it a sense of wonder and beauty, pain, relationships, artistry, inspiration, struggle, and triumph, and to share this music brings us closer together and closer to the brilliant human beings who dedicated their own lifetimes to composing it.”

During rehearsals, Mason has found herself not only appreciating each piece among the selection, but also appreciating the excitement from students as they perform works from centuries ago.

“This is the music that welcomed me into the world of choral music, and sharing it with these singers has been a joyful journey,” Mason said. “Hearing students talk about how fun it is to sing Mozart or how enlightening it is to learn about Brahm’s ‘Requiem’ is rewarding, and it opens the door to enriching conversation with students.”

“Conversations From the Choral Canon” is a free concert and is open to the public. For more information, contact the School of Literary and Performing Arts at 501-916-3291 or slpa@ualr.edu.

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The popular “Voces Omnes” concert, which is free and open to the public, will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall in the Fine Arts Building at ����Vlog��ý Little Rock.

Special guest performers include choirs from Little Rock Central High School, Parkview High School, and Sheridan High School. These choirs will perform CPA (Choral Performance Assessment) programs in preparation for their upcoming CPA competitions.

“We are looking forward to welcoming these singers to campus to share the stage with us in an evening of enriching choral music,” said Dr. Lorissa Mason, director of choral activities at ����Vlog��ý Little Rock. “Good things are happening through the ����Vlog��ý Little Rock Music program, and it is exciting to provide this opportunity for high school choirs to perform prior to their CPA festival performances.”

The concert will include selections to be performed by Randall Thompson, Rene Clausen, Roland Carter, Timothy Brown, Billy Joel, Paul Mealor, Jaakko Mäntyjärvi, and more.

For more information, contact the ����Vlog��ý Little Rock School of Literary and Performing Arts at 501-916-3291.

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The event, which is free and open to the public, will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall in the Fine Arts Building. The ����Vlog��ý Little Rock Chamber Ensembles will perform pre-concert music beginning at 6:30 p.m.

The performers include the ����Vlog��ý Little Rock Choirs, solo vocalists, ����Vlog��ý Little Rock Clarinet and Flute Ensembles, and faculty from the School of Literary and Performing Arts.

“The event highlights the correlation between Shakespeare texts and their connection to song,” said Dr. Lorissa Mason, director of choral activities. “For centuries, Shakespeare’s sonnets and plays have been a fruitful source of texts for composers of song, both in choral literature and solo vocal repertoire. This event features vocal and choral settings of such texts from a variety of Shakespeare plays.”

Students from Dr. Paul Crutcher’s Teaching English class have worked diligently writing program notes to represent the music and literary content, with editorial help from Dr. Kris McAbee, co-director of the School of Literary and Performing Arts. Music selections include songs from “The Tempest,” “Hamlet,” “As You Like It,” “The Merchant of Venice,” “Twelfth Night,” and more.

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The production, co-directed by Dr. Larry Smith and Kate Sain, features a concert staging of short opera works and beloved musical theatre scenes, each dealing with the idea of fortune in the game of life.

Performances are scheduled for Nov. 14-16 at 7:30 p.m in the University Theatre, which is located in the Center for Performing Arts (CPA) building on the ����Vlog��ý Little Rock campus.

Co-produced by both the music and theatre arts programs, these performances bring together a variety of disciplines from the School of Literary and Performing Arts. They also highlight the work of new faculty and staff at ����Vlog��ý Little Rock, as they feature scenic design work by assistant professor of theatre Karen Dauenhauer and technical director Robert Warner. The show includes musical direction by Dr. Nickolas Doshier, assistant professor of music, who conducts a 15-piece orchestra composed of Arkansas Symphony Orchestra musicians, community members, faculty, and students to accompany the vocal performances.

“When Dr. Lorissa Mason approached Kris McAbee and me about linking production to a joint music and theatre-led opera class, we believed it was the right time to pilot this kind of integrated student opportunity,” said Stacy Pendergraft, co-director of the School of Literary and Performing Arts. “Dr. Nickolas Doshier’s incredible assemblage of the orchestra was an unexpected, delightful strengthening of the offering. In all of my 22 years experience here at ����Vlog��ý Little Rock, there has not been this kind of substantial instrumental support of live opera and musical theatre performance. It’s an ambitious, wonderful team effort across the board.”

“These innovations come only one year into the existence of the School of Literary and Performing Arts,” said Dr. Sarah Beth Estes, Dean of the College of Humanities, Arts, Social Sciences, and Education. “This remarkable achievement reflects the commitment of the faculty of the school to innovate opportunities for students and the care of the school directors in facilitating such opportunities.”

The event is free, and no reservations are required. For more information, contact the School of Literary and Performing Arts at 501-916-3291 or email slpa@ualr.edu.

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Dr. Lorissa Mason, director of choral activities, Brent Foster II, a senior music education major, and the members of the ����Vlog��ý Little Rock Chamber Singers are all finalists in three different categories of the American Prize competition.

is the nation’s most comprehensive series of contests in the performing arts. The American Prize competitions evaluate, recognize, and reward the best performers, ensembles, composers, directors, and administrators in the U.S.

Mason is a finalist for the American Prize in Choral Conducting – University. The faculty member said that she’s thrilled to be a part of a competition that she has watched many of her mentors and colleagues participate in over the years.

“The fact that I am on the list is an honor,” Mason said. “I am in the company of all my mentors and colleagues along with lots of great friends and colleagues who are still on the list. It’s a journey that we are all enjoying together. And without these wonderful students, I wouldn’t be conducting. I’m honored that my first journey through this American Prize process is with this group of college singers.”

Foster is a finalist for the American Prize in Composition – Choral Division, College Student for the Concert Choir’s performance of Psalm 23.

“I am truly humbled to be receiving this award for my arrangement of Psalm 23,” Foster said. “I am thankful that my university’s Concert Choir was able to premiere this work last year. And being in Chamber Singers challenges me to grow stronger in my musicianship as the repertoire is more advanced than the music selected for the other choirs.”

The ����Vlog��ý Little Rock Chamber Singers are finalists for the American Prize in Choral Performance – University for their performances of “Magnificat” (Durante), “O Magnum Mysterium” (Andrej Makor), “Elijah Rock” (Moses Hogan), and “A Boy and a Girl” (Eric Whitacre).

Kaitlyn Kendrick, a senior music and music theory major and member of the ����Vlog��ý Little Rock Chamber Singers, said that being chosen as a finalist is an honor and a pleasant surprise.

“When I saw the selections that were submitted, I was thrilled because those songs all meant something to us as singers, and we had many discussions about the music in rehearsal,” Kendrick said. “It’s nice to know that when you work hard on something and pour yourself into that, you are seen. It’s very affirming and humbling.”

Kendrick also credited her participation in the ����Vlog��ý Little Rock Chamber Singers for making her the “musician I am today.”

“The music is challenging at times but so rewarding when you have a successful performance,” she said. “The music we sing in Chamber Singers is important and a reflection of the diversity in the music community internationally as well as in our ensemble. I look forward to chamber rehearsal three times a week, and I admire the people I get to sing with. I have never been more consistent with anything in my life than I have with my pursuit of music, and this ensemble definitely pushed me to pursue excellence in all my music. I strongly feel that 10 years from now I will look back on my time and performances with this ensemble with a lot of emotions and nostalgia. I truly love my fellow singers, my director, and our collaborative pianist so much.”

Additionally, the ����Vlog��ý Little Rock Chamber Singers were also recognized as semi-finalists for the American Prize in American Music – Choral Division, but they did not advance to the finalist round.

The final winners of the American Prize competitions will be announced in the fall.

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Presented by Vox Anima London, the evening of music took place at Cadogan Hall on June 2 and celebrated the work of Paul Mealor, a renowned artist who recently composed music for the coronation of King Charles III, where various groups each performed a set.

The program included High Point University Chamber Singers from North Carolina, the featured acapella group Apollo5, and a collaboration between Una Voce at Wildwood Park for the Arts and Ozark Festival Singers, which included ����Vlog��ý Little Rock faculty and students.

Ozark Festival Singers is a community-based choir whose mission is to travel together and sing. With Mason and Gabe Lewis-O’Connor serving as the conductors and co-artistic directors, Ozark Festival Singers perform across the U.S. and abroad. ����Vlog��ý Little Rock students who performed in London as part of the group were Cole Barber, Harris Hogue, Stacey Howard-Parchel, Kaitlyn Kendrick, Lawson Stiegelmeyer, and alumna Carmen Ramirez.

Music performed by the group included:

• “Celtic Heart” by Paul Mealor
• “Three Scottish Folk Songs” by John F. Hudson
• “Agnus Dei” by Joanna Gill
• “Ave Maria” by Henrik Dahlgren
• “Blessing” by Paul Mealor

Mason conducted the concert set performed by the Ozark Festival Singers.

“Conducting on the Cadogan Hall stage was an honor, and to share it with these singers and with the composers of each of our pieces was a special opportunity,” Mason said. “As I prepared this music, I was able to communicate with each of the composers and understand their ideas behind their work.”

The evening closed with the featured group Apollo5 and a combination of the choirs performing a world premiere of Paul Mealor’s newly commissioned piece for the festival “Three Things” with poetry by Grahame Davies.

With the Ozark Festival Singers open for others to join, Mason hopes to see ����Vlog��ý Little Rock students seek out new musical experiences.

“The ����Vlog��ý Little Rock music program itself has prepared our students with the skills to participate in such a group, where the music is learned largely independently with few and fast rehearsals and a short timeline for a high caliber concert,” she said.

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