Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Sandra Tunnell Tapped as Celebrity Tubist for Ashland's TubaChristmas

The local holiday favorite TubaChristmas returns to Ashland University's Hugo Young Theatre on Saturday, December 3 at noon with Sandra Tunnell, Ashland City Council person and Ashland Main Street executive director, as the "Celebrity Tubist." The concert is free and open to the public and invites area tuba, euphonium and baritone players to perform.  Musician registration will begin at 10:00 a.m. followed by a rehearsal at 10:20 a.m.  

TubaChristmas is an idea conceived by Harvey Phillips, Professor of Tuba at Indiana University. Mr. Phillips wanted to demonstrate to the public what a beautiful sound a mass ensemble of tubas and euphoniums could make and to provide an opportunity for fellow low brass players to celebrate the season with the community.
TubaChristmas is dedicated to the memory of Mr. William J. Bell.  It is a fun, holiday tradition the whole family can enjoy.

The registration fee for participating musicians is $10 and includes a 2016 TubaChristmas button. The TubaChristmas carol book is also available for $20. Musicians are asked to bring their own folding stand.

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Vocal Majors to Perform Senior Recitals

The Department of Music at Ashland University announces the senior vocal recitals for Deric Dove, baritone, and Abbie Brady, soprano, who both study private voice with Stephanie Sikora. Both recitals will be held on Sunday, Nov. 20 in the Elizabeth Pastor Recital Hall. Both concerts are free and open to the public.

Dove presents his concert beginning at 3 p.m. assisted by pianist Deb Logan and fellow baritone Michael Cowan. His program includes pieces from the Classical and Romantic periods with art songs from Maurice Ravel's Don Quichotte a Dulcinee and Franz Schubert's Heidenroslein, Die Forelle and Erlkonig; along with comedic opera arias from Gaetano Donizetti's Don Pasquale and Gioachino Rossini's Barber of Seville. He will also perform musical theatre selections from Gilbert & Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance, Lionel Bart's Oliver! and George Gershwin's Treasure Girl. Dove is a music education major from Newark Ohio.

Brady will begin her recital at 7:30 p.m. and will be assisted by pianist Deb Logan and Andrea Disch, mezzo-soprano. Her program will include pieces from the Baroque period with G. F. Handel's arias Va Godendo and Alma Mia, as well as the Classical period represented by W. A. Mozart's comical duet To Greet You My Lady from The Marriage of Figaro. She will also perform several art songs such as Richard Strauss' Nichts, John Duke's Little Elegy and Ernest Gold's Music When Soft Voices Die. Miss Brady is from Ashtabula, Ohio and is majoring in music and psychology.

Monday, November 14, 2016

AUJO Concert Presents Three Ensembles Including Alumni Band

The Ashland University Department of Music will present an Ashland University Jazz Concert on Monday, Nov. 21, at 7:30 p.m. in Hugo Young Theatre. The concert is free and open to the public.

Under the direction of Dr. Scott Garlock, the concert will offer pre-concert music from a jazz combo followed by jazz standards performed by the Ashland University Jazz Orchestra (AUJO) and a newly formed AUJO Alumni Band. For any alumni who are interested and available to participate, a rehearsal will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 16, from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Elizabeth Pastor Recital Hall.

The Ashland University Jazz Orchestra’s program will be selected but not limited to pieces including Frank Foster’s Blues in Hoss Flat, Dave Morgan’s Consolation, Howie Smith’s Fleece Market, and Sweet Georgia Bright as arranged by Mike Kamuf. They also will perform a couple of Rosemary Clooney vocal charts including Get Me to the Church on Time and You Took Advantage of Me.

The 2016-2017 AUJO roster includes saxophonists Michael Byndas, Josh Thompson, Derek Rangel, Jacob Garry and Jason Wolfe; Nik Psota, Alex Sandwisch, Tyler McFarland and Branden Barber on trumpet; trombonists Jaylynn Buchmelter, Hannah Drake, Frank Stanek and Cody Henderson; while the rhythm section consists of Emily Ebert and Garrett Rangel on bass, guitarist Dominic Febbo and pianist Stefan Jonsson. This year's vocalist is Gracie Fumic.

Monday, November 7, 2016

Dvořák's Mass in D, Nov. 13

Antonín Dvořák's Mass in D will be performed live in concert under the direction of Elizabeth Slade with the Ashland Area Chorus (AAC) and several guest soloists including organist Susan Gregg, mezzo-sopranos Denise Milner Howell and Sandra Ross, tenor Tim Johnson and baritone Brian Keith Johnson. The concert will be held on Sunday, November 13 at 4 p.m. in the Jack and Deb Miller Chapel at Ashland University. The performance is free and open to the public with a freewill offering accepted to benefit the Sandy Brown Honorary Vocal Music Teacher Mini-Grant Fund through the Ashland County Community Foundation.

The concert will showcase Dvořák's original composition for vocal soloists, choir and organ which was published in 1887. The piece was written at the request of Josef Hlávka, founder of the Czech Academy of Sciences and Art, for the consecration of his new chapel that was built at his castle in Lužany in Western Bohemia. Because of the small size of the Lužany chapel, the Mass was written for an intimate space with an organ instead of an orchestra. In addition, Dvořák wrote it for a modest presentation in a more lyrical and prayerful arrangement than dramatic. It also reflected his love of nature and the tranquil countryside surrounding Hlávka's castle through the folk inspired movements. The work observes the customary parts of the Catholic Ordinary of the Mass including Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Benedictus and Agnus Dei.

In her fourth year as the Ashland Area Chorus director, Slade also teaches musicianship courses at Ashland University, and serves with her husband, Peter Slade, in leading worship music at Ashland First United Methodist Church. She holds a B.A. in Music and French from the University of Virginia and an M.Ed. from Harvard University where she studied choral conducting and served as choral administrator for the Harvard Choirs. During her time at Harvard, she was a member of the professional Choir of the Church of the Advent in Boston and a soprano soloist in and around the Boston area. Slade went on to direct the Virginia Women’s Chorus at the University of Virginia and has studied voice and performed with choirs in Virginia, New England and London, UK. In 2009, Slade recruited and directed the hundred-voice Kroc Center Dedication Chorus for the opening of the Salvation Army’s new community center.

In its eighteenth season, the AAC was founded by Dr. Rowland Blackley, director of choral activities at Ashland University. The ensemble is dedicated to a mission of learning great music and singing it beautifully. With over 60 members this fall, the chorus is open to all singers from Ashland and surrounding counties and includes Ashland University faculty, staff and students as well as other singers from the wider community. The chorus sings on programs with the Ashland University Choir and performs annually with the Ashland Symphony Orchestra. New members are always welcome and are invited to the Monday evening rehearsals held at 7 p.m. in Room 242 of the Center for the Arts at Ashland University.