The University of Arkansas Department of Music is thrilled to announce the completion of its 2018 recording project at Haxton Road Studios in Bentonville. The semester-long project marked a major initiative by the department to record a large cross-section of student and faculty ensembles for artistic and promotional purposes. With funding from the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences Dean's Office, the Department of Music partnered with Haxton Road Studios to record an impressive 38 tracks involving more than 150 students and 21 faculty members amounting to over four albums worth (200 minutes) of music.

"We are thrilled to partner with Haxton Road Studios for this unique project," said Ronda Mains, chair of the Department of Music. "For our students, this is an amazing experience for them to work with industry professionals to understand how the recording process works. More tangibly, our students and faculty will have professional quality recordings of their hard work to use for personal and professional development." 

The featured ensembles showcase the stunning variety of music performed and studied at the university including classical chamber music, gospel, jazz, contemporary choral, world music, Latin music, and R&B. Conceived in the summer of 2017 by UAMusic faculty Jake Hertzog and Haxton Road Studios owner Neil Greenhaw, the idea drew an enthusiastic response from the Department of Music and Fulbright College administration.

With these recordings in hand, the department will reach a wider audience of potential students and present a large-scale picture of the scope and quality of the Music Department. Students and faculty who were involved in the recordings will have wonderful work samples for years to come representing their time at the University of Arkansas.

"This project marks the beginning of a wonderful partnership between the U of A and Haxton Road Studios," said Hertzog, instructor of guitar and the project's executive producer. "To give so many of our students and faculty the chance to record in such a high-quality facility has been an extremely special experience for all involved, and quintessential to developing their skills as musicians and careers as performers."

Hertzog added, "This has been a unique experiment in the relationship between a collegiate music program and a community music business, and we are excited about how relationships like this can enhance the way we prepare students for the 21st-century music industry."

The music can be streamed via a new page on the Department of Music's website at fulbright.uark.edu/listen. A committee consisting of Joon Park, Dominic Na, Nikola Radan, Matt Milhalka, and chaired by Hertzog organized and administered the project throughout the spring 2018 semester.

"We are so grateful for all the support we had from the Department of Music and administration to make this happen," says Hertzog. "We are looking forward to what the future brings and it will definitely bring more wonderful music from the talented students and faculty at the University of Arkansas."