Area Chorus & Community Concert Band Announce Fall Schedules

Two community music ensembles at Ashland University [Ashland Area Chorus (AAC) and Ashland Area Community Concert Band (AACCB)] announce their fall schedules including rehearsals, concerts and membership requirements.

Beginning Monday, August 28, Ashland Area Chorus rehearsals are held on Monday evenings from 7-8:45 p.m. in Room 242 of the Center for the Arts. Initially meeting on Tuesday, September 12, the Community Band rehearses on Tuesday evenings from 7:30-9 p.m. in the Center for the Arts' Elizabeth Pastor Recital Hall.

Entering its nineteenth season, the AAC is dedicated to a mission of learning great music and singing it beautifully. 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. Though no formal audition is required for membership, AAC members must be pitch accurate (sing 'on key') and be able to learn and perform their parts successfully. Previous choral experience is helpful.

AAC's theme this semester is Sing We and Chant It! Music from the Heart of England, featuring madrigals by William Byrd, Thomas Morley and Orlando Gibbons, and sacred works by Thomas Tallis, Imogene Holst, and Ralph Vaughan Williams. In addition to performances in AU's Fall Choral Concert on October 29 and Festival of Lights on December 10, the Ashland Area Chorus will be singing an extended prelude and service music at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Cleveland on Sunday, December 3 at the 5:30 p.m. Mass.

The Ashland Area Community Concert Band begins its twenty-fifth season and is for those that loved playing in band in high school or college and want the opportunity to play again. Performances for the ensemble this fall include a performance at the University with the Ashland University Concert Band on Saturday, December 9.

Requirements for membership are the ability to play a wind or percussion instrument (no need to be a virtuoso); an interest in playing for enjoyment; desire to play a wide variety of music for the public; an interest in meeting new people who share a common interest and availability for rehearsals on Tuesday evenings.

Membership in AAC and AACCB is open to all adults. Students still in high school may also participate with the permission of the ensemble's director.  A nominal membership fee of $25 for adults and $15 for high school students is requested and payable by the fourth week of rehearsals to continue participation in either ensemble for the semester. The membership fee is payable at the Ashland University Box Office via phone at 419.289.5125 or online at www.ashland.edu/tickets by clicking on the "Buy Single Tickets" icon.

For further information, contact the Chorus’ director Libby Slade at eslade@ashland.edu or (419) 685-5460; or Community Band director Leonard Salvo at lsalvo@ashland.edu.