New OC music program in Vienna offers world-class experiences for OC students and would have featured a performance at Mozarthaus in April 

Two music students, who last year performed in Steinway Hall in New York City, would have joined Dean Charles Rix as part of the new OC music program in Vienna. 

March 25, 2020 - Studying in the “city of music” transforms music students’ experiences when studying abroad through Oklahoma Christian University’s program in Vienna, Austria. A new institute seeks to expand those transformative experiences for OC students.

OC’s Department of Music debuted its study abroad program, the Inaugural Vienna Institute, but the culminating recital had to be paused due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Professor of Music and Associate Dean for the College of Liberal Arts John Fletcher led the students in the new program in the professional development of their musical skills while traveling through Europe. In addition to the group studying abroad, two OC music majors and Dean of the College of Biblical Studies Charles Rix were scheduled to travel to and perform with Fletcher’s students at the Bosendorfer Hall at Mozarthaus in Vienna on April 11.

Last year, the OC Department of Music selected students for an honor trip and performance at the Steinway Hall in New York City. To build on that experience this year, as a part of the Inaugural Vienna Institute program, two students were to join Fletcher’s students for a recital at Bosendorfer Hall, a concert venue set in Mozarthaus in Vienna just steps from the Stephansdom Cathedral. The Mozarthaus is where renowned composer Wolfgang A. Mozart lived while writing some of his most beloved pieces of music.

Fletcher was on this trip with nine OC students, seven of which are the first participants in the music institute: Noah Bagley, Lily Blanchard, Jillian Ferguson, Sara Padilla, Kelsey Ritchie, Ashley Sepulvador and Jack Smith. The two additional students who were to later fly and join the recital performance were Spencer Banister, an instrumentalist, and Preston Prock, a vocalist. Both also performed in the honors music program at Steinway Hall last year. 

Fletcher was thrilled for his students to experience the opportunities available to them through the study abroad music program.

"Our OC music students always learn about Beethoven, Mozart and many other composers in their classes,” he said. “What a thrill for them to experience for themselves the places where the music was written or first performed and to become intimately acquainted with the city that has inspired so many fantastic artists through the centuries. Also, the opportunities to hear renowned current performers here, and across Europe, are truly phenomenal. 

“I believe our students will return to campus as much more well-rounded musicians and people, and I hope that many others will elect to follow in their footsteps, choosing to study in Vienna in the years to come."

Charles Rix is a world-renowned classical concert pianist, so it was only natural for Fletcher to invite him to accompany the students for the performance.

“Vienna is at the heart of the cultural arts of Europe,” Rix said. “To be able to study music and theology and perform there is the opportunity of a lifetime.”

Rix was scheduled to travel to Vienna on March 15 to join the music institute, to teach Bible theology and art in a four-week course and then to perform at the recital with students. 

The Inaugural Vienna Institute was housed in Das Millicanhaus, recently renovated to include practice rooms for the students to develop their musical gifts. This spring, the institute was to be dedicated to Rix’s parents, Dr. Cecil and Martha Rix, who support both OC and Christian excellence. Their love and dedication, in addition to donations from members of the OC Friends of Music, made the institute possible.