Director of Choral Activities Dr. Timothy Michael Powell has debuted a fresh take on an old standard with his new arrangement, “With a Banjo on My Knee.”

Publisher Hal Leonard says, “any combination of bluegrass instruments will make a welcome addition to this arrangement” of Stephen Foster’s “Oh! Susanna.”

Since joining the Oglethorpe University faculty in 2017, Dr. Powell has brought a bluegrass flair to campus, such as last year’s OU Singers concert “Come Away to the Skies, A High Lonesome Mass.”  Under Dr. Powell’s guidance, the OU Singers have toured throughout Georgia, and the university has begun welcoming high school singers to Oglethorpe for all-day choral festivals. He was previously one of only 25 educators in the country to be named a semifinalist for the 2016 Grammy Music Educator Award, an honor that highlights the impactful work of music teachers.

Powell, along with senior lecturer and Director of Music Dr. Brent Runnels, will be leading a group of OU Singers on a trip abroad to China during summer 2019 to perform at the Xi’an International Choral Festival and on the Great Wall in Beijing. Outside of teaching, Dr. Powell is also a decorated composer, having works premiered in New York’s Carnegie Hall.