Winter Festival Band Concert, Dec. 8

The Department of Music at Ashland University presents its annual Winter Festival Band Concert on Saturday, Dec. 8 at 7:30 p.m. in Hugo Young Theatre. The concert will feature the Ashland University Symphonic Band directed by Joseph Lewis, Jr., Ashland University Director of Bands, and the Ashland Area Community Concert Band (AACCB) under the direction of Leonard Salvo. The concert will offer a program of classic compositions for concert band along with some holiday favorites. The concert is free and open to the public.

The Ashland University Symphonic Band is comprised of the outstanding wind and percussion students at the University. The Symphonic Band's portion of the program includes James Curnow's Fanfare and Flourishes, David Holsinger's On a Hymnsong of Philip Bliss along with two holiday classics: Leroy Anderson's A Christmas Festival and Russian Christmas Music by Alfred Reed which is based on the ancient Russian Christmas carol, Carol of the Little Russian Children.

After a brief intermission, the 65-member Ashland Area Community Concert Band takes the stage. Established in 1993, the ensemble is designed for both university students and members of the Ashland community to continue their musical study and creative activity.

The Community Band's program begins with two pieces by Robert Sheldon including Savannah River Rhapsody and Dances of a Shimmering Spirit, which was commissioned for the Ashland High School Band in memory of Christina Lattanzi, followed by the first movement of Ralph Vaughan Williams' most famous work for military band, English Folk Song Suite: Seventeen Come Sunday. AACCB concludes their portion of the program with two holiday medleys including In the Christmas Mood by John Wasson and It's Christmas by Warren Barker.