Dr. Bevan Keating, director of UALR’s vocal program, promises a season of “firsts” as the Music Department announces the 2010-2011 season of choral, operatic, and vocal masterworks.

“For the first time we will be combining the UALR Community Chorus and the UALR Opera Theatre to present Gilbert and Sullivan’s ‘H.M.S. Pinafore,’” Keating said. “Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall has just undergone an extensive renovation, and the results are stunning. So this is our first season when we can show off its enhanced functionality and beauty.”

All of the UALR vocal events begin at 7:30 p.m. Ticket sales will begin Oct. 15. For more information, contact the Music Department Box Office at 501-569-8993.

The popular operetta will have three performances with costumes and orchestra in the newly updated concert hall Nov. 12 to 14. Tickets are $15 for general admission and $5 for students and children. UALR students, faculty, and staff will be admitted free of charge.

Other choral concerts scheduled for the hall are a Nov. 19 “Choral Collage” involving all three UALR student choral ensembles and an April 15 performance by the UALR Concert Choir.

Tickets for these concerts are $5 for general admission, with UALR students admitted free.

On March 7 in Little Rock’s Robinson Center Music Hall, the UALR ensembles will join with elite local high school choruses, professional soloists and orchestra to present Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s famed “Requiem.” Tickets are $10 for general admission and free to UALR students, faculty and staff.

UALR Opera Theatre also will offer several firsts on the calendar as well, said Director Edward Crafts.

“On April 8 and 10, we will present the regional premieres of two important 20th century operas — Tom Johnson’s “The Four-Note Opera” and “Four Saints in Three Acts” by Virgil Thomson and Gertrude Stein,” Crafts said. “These are both playful and imaginative works that I think our audiences will enjoy.”

The operatic double-bill will be performed in SBS Concert Hall, with tickets at $15 for general admission and $5 for children or students. UALR students may obtain free tickets.

Guest soloist Korean tenor Kevin Park, currently starring at the Aldeburgh Festival in England, will present at “Luscious Love Longs,” the annual fundraising concert for the vocal program at Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall.

The program also will include members of the UALR Concert Choir and members of the UALR vocal faculty.

Tickets, which include a champagne reception, are $75 and help to support UALR’s choral and opera activities.