Division of Music - Faculty
Dr. Glenda Secrest Soprano Associate Professor Glenda Secrest serves Ouachita Baptist University by teaching applied voice, vocal diction, and as Co-Director of the OBU Opera Theatre. Prior to her appointment at Ouachita, Secrest held positions at Cameron University, Lawton, Oklahoma; Chandler/Gilbert Community College, Gilbert, Arizona; and Manhattan Christian College, Manhattan, Kansas. Dr. Secrest holds her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Vocal Performance from The University of Memphis, where she studied with Pamela Gaston; the Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in Vocal Performance from Arizona State University, where she studied with Peggy Castle and Darleen Kliewer-Britton. She has also studied singing with tenor Rico Serbo. Secrest has coached with the renowned artists Sherill Milnes, Natalie Limonick, Elly Ameling, and long time director of the coach accompanying program at Arizona State University, Lois McCleod. Her opera credits include leading roles such as Rosina in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia, Mimi in Puccini’s La Bohème, Olympia in Offenbach’s Les contes d’Hoffmann, Gretel in Humperdinck’s Hansel und Gretel, the Governess in The Turn of Screw by Benjamin Britten, the Mother in Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors, Pamina and the Second Lady in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, and Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro by Mozart. Dr. Secrest’s performances in Die Zauberflöte and Le Nozze di Figaro were nationally televised . From the world of oratorio and other works with orchestra, Secrest has performed the Christ on the Mount of Olives by Beethoven, Borodin’s Polovetsian Dances, Fantasy, Op. 80 by Beethoven, Bach’s Cantata 140, and Gounod’s Messa Solennelle. Other works include The Young Dead Soldiers by W. Schuman, scenes from Wilbur by Randall Shinn, The Seven Last Words of Christ by Dubois, Handel’s Messiah, and Mass of the Children by John Rutter. Dr. Secrest has appeared with orchestras in Arizona, Arkansas, Kansas and Oklahoma. These include the Phoenix Symphony, Mesa Symphony, Scottsdale Symphony, Nouveau West Orchestra, Lawton Philharmonic and Lyric Opera of Arizona State University, and as a special guest with Steve Allen in the “Premiere of a New Century”. Her directing credits include productions of Alice in Wonderland, The Magic Flute, H.M.S. Pinafore, Amahl and the Night Visitors, Così fan tutte, Sid the Serpent Who Wanted to Sing, Wind in the Willows, and The Reluctant Dragon. Dr. Secrest directed OBU’s ever popular Ouachita Sounds for seven years, directed the Lawton Philharmonic Chorale, the Chandler/Gilbert Community Chorale, and the Arkansas Southwest Region Senior High All-Region SSAA Choir. In addition she has conducted the Praise Ringers and Inspiration Ringers hand bell choirs. An active member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, Secrest is the immediate past Arkansas President and has served as Co-Auditions Chair. Her students have been NATS semi-finalists and finalists at both the state and regional level and have won the National Association of Teacher of Singing Foundation Award for Vocal Excellence. In addition, her students have been winners in OBU’s Mary Shambarger Competition for Singers and the VSA Arts Competition at The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. In 2004, Dr. Secrest was selected through a competitive blind selection process to present her lecture recital entitled “Songs from Letters and Cowboy Songs by Libby Larsen: Two Different Approaches to Western Mythology and Western Mythological Figures” at the National Convention of the National Association of Teachers of Singing in New Orleans, LA. Her article by the same name appears in the September/October 2007 issue of the Journal of Singing, the official professional journal of NATS. In addition to being an active member of NATS, she is a member of Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society; Epsilon Delta Chapter and an alumnus of Sigma Alpha Iota. In 1994, 2002, and again in 2004, Dr. Secrest was named by her students to appear in Who’s Who Among American’s Teachers. She also appears in both the 2007 and 2008 editions of Who’s Who in America and the 2007 edition of Who’s Who in the World. Her doctoral dissertation entitled “Songs from Letters and Cowboy Songs by Libby Larsen: Two Different Approaches to Western Mythology and Western Mythological Figures” earned her a spot in “Contemporary Authors”, the world’s primary directory for author information. She has been the recipient of numerous OBU Faculty Development and Enrichment awards. She resides in Arkadelphia, AR, with her husband, Jon, and their two children, Evan and Caitlin. E-mail: secrestg@obu.edu
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