Guenther Guest Soloist for Ashland Musical Club

Featuring Ashland University organist Dr. Timothy E. Guenther as the guest soloist, the Ashland Musical Club will present its spring Scholarship Benefit Recital at 4 p.m. on Sunday, May 14 at Trinity Lutheran Church, 508 Center Street in Ashland. The program is “A Celebration of Lutheran Organ Music” in celebration of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation and in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the constituting of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians (ALCM).

Composers on the first portion of the program represent the first several hundred years after Martin Luther’s Reformation of 1517, and include Georg Boehm, Dieterich Buxtehude, Michael Praetorius, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johann Ludwig Krebs and Anton Wilhelm Leupold. After intermission, more recent composers will be featured including Herman Kuenster, Flor Peeters, Harald Rohling, Paul Manz, F. Melius Christiansen, Jan Bender, Charles Ore, Richard Wienhorst, David Cherwien and Jeffrey Blersch.

The recital is open to the public and a donation will be taken to benefit the club's scholarship fund. A reception will follow.

The Ashland Musical Club was founded in 1900 by some of Ashland's most prominent women to promote good music and music education.  Now open to men as well, it is affiliated with the Ohio Federation of Music Clubs and the National Federation of Music Clubs. One of the ways it aids music education is with a scholarship awarded each year to an Ashland County graduating senior. Each year the club sponsors a scholarship benefit recital with all donations going to the scholarship fund. The Ashland Musical Club scholarship fund began in the early 1940s and many of the persons who are currently active in Ashland's musical life were recipients of this scholarship. Any Ashland County graduating senior may audition for the scholarship.

Seven Recitals Performed in Less Than Three Weeks!

The Department of Music at Ashland University announces seven recitals which are scheduled over the next three weeks. From faculty and senior recitals to the fall honors recital, the concerts will offer performances by instrumentalists (flute, saxophone, organ, piano, cello, and guitar) and musical theatre vocalists. All of the following performances are free and open to the public.

The marathon of recitals begins on Sunday, November 1 at 7:30 p.m. in the Elizabeth Pastor Recital Hall with a faculty recital by flutist Jane Berkner. Ms. Berkner will perform with cellist Miles Richardson, pianist Susan Gregg and Stephen Aron on guitar. Primarily featuring flute and cello, the program will include Jean-Michel Damase's Sonate en Concert, Eric Lamb and Martin Rummel's arrangement of J.S. Bach's (Re)Inventions, Heitor Villa Lobos' Jet Whistle, Lake Wallenpaupack by Daniel Dorff and Danzas de le Abuela by Ricardo Iznaola.

There will be three separate recitals the following Sunday, November 8 beginning at 1 p.m. in the Elizabeth Pastor Recital Hall with a senior recital featuring music education major Jessica Barnhouse (Cambridge, Ohio). Miss Barnhouse will present her senior saxophone recital accompanied by pianist Susan Gregg and guest performers Jaylynn Buchmelter, trombone; Derek Rangel, guitar; her private instuctor Dr. Thomas Reed, guitar; and Polly Dexter, drums. Her program will include Giovannini's Rhapsody, J.S. Bach's Two Bourrées from Third Cello Suite, Darius Milhaud's Scaramouche, along with Gershwin's Summertime, Parker's My Little Suede Shoes and more.

At 4 p.m. in the Jack and Deb Miller Chapel, Dr. Timothy Guenther will present his faculty recital in celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the reconstructed Olive Williams Kettering Memorial M. P. Möller Pipe Organ. The repertoire includes music by J.S. Bach, José Lidon, César Franck, Felix Mendelssohn, Paul Hindemith, Eunice Lea Kettering, Knut Nystedt, Paul Desmond, and Joseph Bonnet; and features the Ashland premiere of the Chorale Fantasia by J.S. Bach on “Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält”, BWV 1128, discovered in March 2008.

Returning to the Recital Hall at 7:30 p.m., senior applied vocal major Fatima Imani Smith will perform a musical theatre revue to fulfill her senior music project. Directed by Andrea Disch, accompanied by pianist Deb Logan, and assisted by tenor Jake Riley and baritone Deric Dove, Fatima will present her original show of "Musicals Throughout the Ages." Fatima studies voice privately with Stephanie Sikora.

On Sunday, November 15, senior instrumental music education major Rachel Crow (Reynoldsburg, Ohio) kicks the day off at 1 p.m. in the Recital Hall with her senior piano recital. Under the tutelage of her private instructor Susan Schoeffler, Rachel's program includes piano classics from Brahms' Rhapsody to Beethoven's Sonata (Op. 49, Nov.2), along with Rachmaninoff's Moment Musical, five movements from Prokofieff's Vision Fugitives and The Entertainer by Scott Joplin.

At 7:30 p.m. on November 15, saxophonist and instrumental music education major Shayne Smith (Bellevue, Ohio) will present his senior recital in the Recital Hall. He will be accompanied by pianist Susan Gregg and assisted by fellow sax players Michael Byndas, Derek Rangel, Jessie Barnhouse, Jaylynn Buchmelter, Jason Wolf and Nick Slinger. He will perform classic pieces by Robert Schumann and Jean Baptiste Singelee along with contemporary selections including Rudy Wiedoeft's Saxophobia, Dave Heath's The Celtic Concerto, and Little Gap, Pennsylvania by Charles W. Smith. Shayne studies privately with Dr. Thomas Reed.

On Wednesday, November 18 Thursday, November 19 at 7:30 p.m.,the best of Fall 2015 perform at the Fall Honors Recital in the Elizabeth Pastor Recital Hall. Students who accomplished exceptional musical work during the semester will showcase their vocal and instrumental talents as selected by their private teachers.

INVITATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL CHORAL FESTIVAL RETURNS NOV. 16

The annual Invitational High School Choral Festival returns to Ashland University on Saturday, November 16 which culminates in a public concert at 3:45 p.m. in the Jack and Deb Miller Chapel. Presented by the Department of Music, the concert is free and open to the public. 

Three Ohio high schools will engage in a day of musical and educational activities led by Dr. Rowland Blackley, Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities, and Dr. Timothy Guenther, Adjunct Instructor of Music and University organist. Participating choirs include Lexington High School Choir directed by Paul Dawson, Lake High School Madrigal Singers (Cortland) directed by Bonnie Chronister, and Triway High School Choir (Wooster) directed by Stan Willis. For the public concert, musical selections will be performed by each high school choir followed by a combined piece performed by all of the choirs and the Ashland University Choir.

JANUARY RECITALS BEGIN THURSDAY NIGHT

The Department of Music at Ashland University presents several student recitals and a faculty recital in January featuring vocalists, a percussionist and organist.  All of the recitals are free and open to the public.  The student recitals are held in the Elizabeth Pastor Recital Hall in the Center for the Arts (formerly known as the Arts & Humanities Building), and the faculty organ recital is slated for the Jack and Deb Miller Chapel. 
 

The student recitals begin on Thursday, January 24 at 7:30 p.m. with a junior recital by soprano Kathryn Mounts.  She will perform with pianist Deb Logan and fellow soprano Erin Lingenfelter including classical pieces from Rossini, Shubert and Debussy to contemporary works by Ricky Ian Gordon and Stephen Schwartz. Kathryn is a graduate of Ashland High School and is a musical theatre and vocal performance major studying privately with vocal instructor Denise Howell.  

On Sunday, January 27 at 2:30 p.m., soprano Katie Vargo will perform her senior recital with pianists Pavlina Draganova and Kyle Gould, and Maggie Rickard on oboe.  Katie is a music education major and studies privately with vocal instructor Dione Bennett. She graduated from Riverside High School (Painesville, OH).  

Dr. Timothy Guenther

At 4:00 p.m. on January 27, University organist and instructor of music Dr. Timothy Guenther will perform a faculty recital on organ and harpsichord in the Jack and Deb Miller Chapel. In addition to serving as the University Organist since 1996, Dr. Guenther also teaches applied organ and harpsichord, as well as courses in fundamentals of basic musicianship, and serves as accompanist as needed for the University Choir, Chamber Singers and Ashland Area Chorus. He holds degrees in organ performance from the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester, the University of Alabama, and The American Conservatory of Music. He frequently performs as keyboardist for both the Ashland Symphony Orchestra and the Mansfield Symphony Orchestra. Rostered as an Associate in Ministry in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, he currently serves as Organist and Director of Music Ministry at Gethsemane Lutheran Church in Columbus. He is active professionally in the American Guild of Organists, the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians, the Hymn Society, the Organ Historical Society, the Reed Organ Society, the American Theatre Organ Society, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. He also performs regularly on the Mighty Wurlitzer theatre organ at the Renaissance Theatre in Mansfield. 

Also on January 27 at 7:30 p.m., percussionist Matthew Dawson will present his senior recital.  Matthew is from Perrysville, Ohio and is a graduate of Lexington High School.  He is a music education major studying privately with percussion instructor Jeff Neitzke.