Bevan Keating’s introduction to life in Little Rock was less than auspicious. The London, Ontario, native moved here in the fall of 2004 to be director of vocal activities at UALR (he’s now also music director at Second Presbyterian Church). He spent his first day here house-hunting with his wife, Kira. After dinner in Hillcrest, they stopped to look at an empty house on Palm Street. 

“By the time we got back, our car had been broken into, and everything was gone,” he said. “All we had done was look in the windows of a vacant house.” 

“Everything” included Keating’s identification. Without that, he couldn’t so much as open a bank account, much less buy a house or even officially begin working. The Keatings were forced to turn around and drive 18 hours back to Canada to wait two weeks for replacement documents. 

Fortunately, things have improved since then. 

Like others who’ve moved here from other regions, Keating said he’s been impressed with the genuine friendliness he’s encountered. 

“There was generally a warm, welcoming feeling everywhere we went, from people at work to people in the street who are interested in you because you’re from somewhere else,” he said. 

And they followed up on it too, he said — loaning them tools as they renovated the run-down Quapaw Quarter home they eventually bought, giving them furniture to fill it up, bringing food. 

Keating’s not as much a fan of Arkansas weather as his wife is, but he said he has been impressed with Little Rock’s artistic and cultural offerings, and the support he’s gotten as he’s tried to reinvigorate UALR’s vocal music program. 

“I’ve been very happy with the amount of energy and commitment people have been willing to put toward the vocal arts,” he said. UALR stages two operas a year with orchestra, and Keating started a community chorus that now has more than 80 members. He’s also seen more than 15 of his students find work at local churches and schools. 

“That doesn’t happen everywhere,” he said. 

— Jennifer Barnett Reed