This Season’s Guest Artists
Emily Bieker
Emily Bieker, violin, is a Fort Smith native. Her artistic journey began at the age of twelve when she started violin lessons with her former private instructor, Lori Fay. As her love of music flourished, Emily also studied saxophone and piano within the Fort Smith Public Schools. Throughout junior high and high school, she received many accolades; high marks in solo and ensemble contests, violin solo awards from the National Federation of Music Clubs, Outstanding Musician and Director’s awards, scholarship awards to the U of A and UCA strings camps, drum major for the Southside marching band, concertmaster for the Southside orchestra, as well as holding high chairs within the All State Orchestra and Band (concertmaster 2017). Emily is currently pursuing her Undergraduate Diploma in Violin Performance from the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, Massachusetts under the direction of Dr. Sean Wang. She studies full-time in the conservatory and plays with the Longy Conservatory Orchestra, various chamber groups, the Harvard Baroque Chamber orchestra, as well as masterclasses and solo performances throughout the year. During her time at Longy, Emily has assisted the El Sisterna Side-by-Side program, providing private lessons, group lessons, and performing side-by-side with local young students to bring high-quality music education to underserved communities. She plans to pursue her Master of Arts in Teaching at Longy, as well as master’s and doctoral degrees in violin performance.
Jay Shepherd
Jay Shepherd is an Arkansas-born guitarist, singer, and composer. Currently living in Fort Smith, Jay performs with several of his own groups including his jazz fusion trio and British style brass band, Arkansas Musicworks Brass Band, which he co-founded three years ago. Jay earned both his B.M. and M.M. Degrees at the University studying classical guitar with Dr. Timothy Crist, and works tirelessly as a music educator and clinician advocating for guitar education and jazz education in the public schools. He is a member of the Guitar Foundation of America, Arkansas Jazz Educators, and is the founding president of the Arkansas State University Guitar Guild. Currently, Jay is playing a series of concerts with smooth jazz artists, Michael Fields Jr., Eldredge Jackson and Tom Braxton. His solo instrumental electric guitar album, Gemini, continues to be a favorite of the instrumental guitar community. A follow-up album will be released in the summer 2021.
Darci Wright
Darci Wright is currently pursuing her Bachelor of Music Degree in Music Education as a senior percussionist at the University of Arkansas – Fort Smith. At UAFS, she holds the titles of Principal Percussionist of the Wind Ensemble and President of the Percussion Club. A native of Waldron, Darci teaches at schools throughout Arkansas and Oklahoma, manages her private percussion studio, and assists at various summer band camps. Darci has performed with the Arkansas Musicworks Brass Band and recently earned a position in the percussion section with the Fort Smith Symphony. After earning her BME, Darci will attend graduate school to pursue a Master’s degree, and ultimately, a Doctorate in Percussion Performance. Her eventual goal is to perform and educate at the highest level and be inducted into the PAS Hall of Fame. As of now, there are only four females in the PAS Hall of Fame, with the first inductee being in 1972.