Ashland County Middle School Musicians Honored at AU Concert

In Celebration of Music in Our Schools Month, Ashland University Department of Music will host the annual Ashland County Middle School Honors Band on Sunday, March 24 at 4 p.m. in Hugo Young Theatre. The Ashland University Symphonic Band will be the featured guest ensemble. Joseph Lewis, Jr., Ashland University Director of Bands, will serve as conductor for both ensembles.

Consisting of 72 members, the Ashland County Middle School Honors Band includes seventh and eighth grade students from Ashland, Crestview, Hillsdale, Loudonville-Perrysville and Mapleton Schools. Members of the Ashland County Band Directors Association met with Mr. Lewis to plan the program. The committee of band directors selected the honors band members based on merit and instrumentation needs of the band. Students meet at Ashland University on March 21 and 23 to rehearse and present this program with music ranging from
classical selections to traditional marches.

The 51-member Ashland University Symphonic Band will open the concert with a cameo program of wonderful music chosen especially to highlight this year’s Chicago tour theme: Music from Across the Pond and the Far East including Vaughan Williams’ Flourish for Wind Band, McBeth’s Kaddish, Chance’s Variations on a Korean Folk Song, Tschesnokoff’s Salvation is Created, and Hazo’s Olympiada.

The combination of these two bands make for a rewarding, exciting and satisfying musical experience for both the performers and the audience. Admission is free and open to the public.