By Ariana Sumpter
College of Fine Arts and Communication Media Office
CONWAY — The University of Central Arkansas Department of Music will host three Octuba concerts to celebrate the tuba and euphonium this month.
Octubafest at UCA, Tubaween and the second annual Toad Suck Buck’s Octubafest are all free and open to the public.
The UCA Octubafest is set for Monday, Oct. 24, at 7:30 p.m. in the Snow Fine Arts Center Recital Hall. Dr. Gail Robertson, assistant professor of tuba and euphonium, said the concert would feature a variety of soloists from the UCA Tuba-Euphonium Studio on works by such artists as Mozart, Bellestedt, York, Gulino and Barat.
The annual Tubaween concert, traditionally held around Halloween, is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 27, at 7:30 p.m., also in the Snow Fine Arts Center Recital Hall. Graduate student conductors will be Shekinah Ball and Liz Taylor-McMullen.
“To continue with our tradition of featuring someone who does not play the tuba or euphonium, this year’s featured soloist will be the dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communication, Terry Wright,” Robertson said. “Dean Wright will be featured on the ‘Concierto en Una Nota.’”
Toad Suck Buck’s Octubafest will conclude the Octuba celebrations with an afternoon of tubas and euphoniums playing polkas at Toad Suck Buck’s River Vista and Grill at 11 Roaring River Loop in Houston, Arkansas.
For more information, contact Robertson at 501-450-5763 or grobertson@uca.edu.
The UCA College of Fine Arts and Communication includes the Departments of Art, Music, and Film, Theatre and Creative Writing as well as the School of Communication. The college’s primary mission is the preparation of the next generation of artists, educators and communicators. For more information about CFAC, visit www.uca.edu/cfac or call (501) 450-3293.