Low Brass
Whether you want to be a performer, educator, music industry professional, or just
enjoy playing, Ouachita is the place for you! Our music faculty is dedicated to providing
you with a well-rounded experience, ever-expanding facilities, and scholarships to
help make your education affordable. Ouachita is consistently ranked among the top
liberal arts colleges in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, but we keep the faculty-student ratio low to guarantee you a wealth of solo and
ensemble performance opportunities paired with individual attention to your education,
musicianship, creativity, marketability and career goals.
Applied Lessons
Trombone, euphonium and tuba students have weekly lessons exploring everything from
basic fundamentals of music making to every imaginable genre: orchestra, jazz, commercial,
improvisation, contemporary, etc. Lessons are custom-designed to fit each individual
student’s career goals.
Low Brass Seminar
Low majors have a weekly Low Brass Seminar to perform for one another and give peer
feedback on performances in a masterclass setting. Low Brass Seminar also involves
visits by guest artists and clinics. Past guest artists have included Haim Avitsur,
Manhattan School of Music; Gerry Pagano, St. Louis Symphony; Tom Burge, Charlotte
Symphony: Doug Elliott, jazz trombonist and renown mouthpiece designer.
Low Brass Choir & Chamber Ensembles
Our low brass chamber ensembles are made up of music majors, music minors and other
students who enjoy being a part of one of the most special groups on campus. We perform
a mixture of repertoire on campus and off. Many students mention these as among their
favorite ensembles.
Jazz Band and Jazz Combo
The Jazz Band meets in both the fall and spring semesters, presenting concerts of
swing, samba, rock, Latin, and funk styles, as well as tunes for small combos of quartets
and quintets.
Wind Ensemble
The Wind Ensemble, the university’s flagship instrumental ensemble, is an auditioned
ensemble of the best wind and percussion students on campus. The group meets in both
the fall and spring and presents at least one concert per semester in addition to
appearances in the community.
Symphonic Band
The Symphonic Band is a large wind ensemble open to any OBU student. The ensemble
presents a full concert in the spring and is a terrific venue for many non-music majors
to continue performing in a quality wind ensemble.
Marching Band
The Marching Band preforms at home football games, local parades, and in exhibition
at marching band competitions. The ensemble rehearses two afternoons per week. The
OBU marching band has fun entertaining audiences; we take music and performing seriously,
but in a relaxed and enjoyable environment.
Musical Theatre Orchestra
Low brass musicians have the opportunity to perform in the orchestra pit for musical
stage productions. Each spring, the Musical Theatre Workshop presents a fully staged
Broadway musical, such as Guys and Dolls, The Drowsy Chaperone, Seussical the Musical, The Sound of Music, Thoroughly Modern Millie, My Fair Lady, Godspell, Shrek: The Musical, Footloose and Fiddler on the Roof.
Opera Orchestra
Low brass musicians have the unique opportunity to use their classical training in
action by performing in the orchestra pit for operatic productions. Each fall the
Opera Theatre Workshop presents a full-staged opera, such as Mozart’s Don Giovanni and The Magic Flute, Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado and Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors.
Tiger Blast
Tiger Blast is a group similar to the Broadway drum line show Blast! The group performs for thousands of people at Tiger Tunes in the fall and presents performances; complete with light shows, sound systems, fog machines, keyboards, bass and guitars, color guard, and usually multiple drum sets.
Please contact Dr. Austin Motley ([email protected]) to learn more about the diverse low brass opportunities for music majors/minors and non-majors at Ouachita.
