This week, the University of Arkansas Department of Music is launching its Music75 project to make music in all 75 counties in Arkansas. “Music75 reflects our department’s desire to further establish the arts as one of the pillars of the university and the state," according to Alan Gosman, associate chair of music.  “There is incredible enthusiasm to  channel our energy for community outreach in this way and connect with people throughout Arkansas."

The department will get off to a fast start, with several ensembles embarking on tours in the coming weeks. Sixty students will traverse the state with the Wind Ensemble, one of four concert bands at UA. Another forty students will take part in a tour by Schola Cantorum, UA's oldest choral ensemble. These two tours will include performances in Pulaski, White, Faulkner, Jefferson, and Independence counties. In mid-March, two of the department's resident faculty ensembles—the Lyrique Quintette and the Boston Mountain Brassworks—will head to the opposite corner of the state to perform in Faulkner and Desha counties. March events also include two offerings in Benton County—a music education clinic for the Rogers High School orchestra by Assistant Professor Daniel Abrahams on March 6th and a gallery conversation at Crystal Bridges on the 16th by Professor Elizabeth Margulis titled "Music and the Listening Mind."

Music75 will include an enormous range of musical experiences, including solo and ensemble concerts, student and faculty concerts, and contributions by both the applied and academic faculty. One exciting aspect of this project is the diversity of music that the department will present. In March, the repertoire will range from Renaissance compositions by Cipriano de Rore to modern-day works by Bobby McFerrin and Queen.

If you would like to see where the Department of Music is in this new project, go to www.fulbright.uark.edu/music75. If you are interested in setting up an event in your county or would like to make a gift to help support this project, please contact the Department of Music at 479-575-4701. If you live in Washington County, Music75 does not mean that you will have to look harder for music events. The Department of Music will still be presenting upwards of 330 concerts per year on campus, look for upcoming events at music.uark.edu.