Junior Recital: Kendra Garver, mezzo-soprano

Junior music education major Kendra Garver, mezzo-soprano, will present her student recital on Thursday, Oct. 10 at 7:30 p.m. in the Elizabeth Pastor Recital Hall. A graduate of Triway High School, Kendra studies voice with Kimberly States and will be accompanied by Deb Logan (piano). Her program will include classical pieces by Mozart, Strauss, and Martini, along with musical theatre compositions by Gilbert and Sullivan and Andrew Lloyd Webber, as well as a Mexican folk song. The concert is free and open to the public.

Hannah Wise Presents Senior Vocal Recital, Nov. 19

The Ashland University Department of Music announces a senior recital by senior mezzo-soprano Hannah Wise on Sunday, Nov. 19 at 3 p.m. in the Elizabeth Pastor Recital Hall. The concert is free and open to the public.

As a music education major, Hannah Wise (Hartville) will perform with pianist Deb Logan and tenor Jacob Poiner. Her program will begin with classical pieces by W. A. Mozart, Claude Debussy and Johannes Brahms, while the second half features musical theatre selections by Gilbert & Sullivan, Allan Menken, Michael Mitnick and Cinco Paul.

AU Music Begins Year with Vocal Recital & Emmy-Nominated Composer

The Department of Music at Ashland University announces its first recital of the new academic year and a special presentation by an Emmy-nominated composer all to be held on Thursday, September 8. Both programs are free and open to the public.

After a visit to Ashland University last winter, Emmy-nominated composer and Wooster native Philip Giffin returns to campus on Thursday Sept. 8 at 9:25 a.m. in room 303 of the Center for the Arts. He will give a presentation about his most recent film score and about producing and arranging for pop artists. A graduate of Berklee College of Music, Giffin has scored and contributed music to numerous features and television programs including "Like Mike," "Fatal Instinct," "Beethoven’s 3rd (and 4th)", "Muppet’s Tonight" and more. As an orchestrator, his many credits include "Sommersby," "Die Hard" (I and II) and "Lethal Weapon" (I and II).

At 7:30 p.m. on September 8 in the Elizabeth Pastor Recital Hall, mezzo-soprano Sarah Napier will present her junior recital accompanied by pianist Deb Logan. Her program will include pieces by Handel, Donizetti, Mendelssohn, Chausson, Lerner & Lowe, Heisler & Goldrich and Mercer & Arlen. Sarah is a music major studying voice with Denise Milner Howell and she is a graduate of Willard High School.

BEST OF SPRING 2013 FEATURED AT HONORS RECITAL

The Ashland University Department of Music presents the spring honors recital on Wednesday, May 1, 7:30 p.m. at the Elizabeth Pastor Recital Hall in the Center for the Arts (formerly known as the Arts & Humanities Building).  The concert will showcase the department’s student musicians who accomplished exceptional work in the spring semester from instrumentalists including piano, percussion, guitar, trumpets and flute, to vocalists and an opera scene. The concert is free and open to the public.

Featured instrumentalists include seniors Ian Dively, trumpet; and Eddie Carney, piano; and Spencer Stadnik, guitar; juniors Andy Bartelheim, trumpet; Steve Morsher, percussion; and sophomore Devyn Renninger, flute.  Vocal performances will feature seniors Brandy Kay Riha, soprano; freshman Fatima Imani-Smith, soprano; along with a vocal ensemble performing a scene from the Pirates of Penzance including seniors Bret Cowden, baritone; Derek Jackenheimer, tenor; Katie Vargo, soprano; and Emily Plank, mezzo-soprano.

BACK-TO-BACK FACULTY AND GUEST ARTIST RECITALS ON FEB. 4 & 5

The Department of Music at Ashland University will present a faculty recital and a guest artist recital on back-to-back days Monday, February 4 and Tuesday, February 5 at 7:30 p.m. each evening in the Elizabeth Pastor Recital Hall. The Monday evening recital will feature Music Department Chair and Professor of Music Dr. Thomas Reed on clarinet and saxophone, while the Tuesday recital features mezzo-soprano Dr. Susan Olson. The performances are free and open to the public.

Please note that Dr. Reed's recital has been rescheduled to a different date than what was originally published. He will be assisted by pianist Pavlina Draganova and violinist Jane Reed on his program including music by Dvorak, Maurice, Bonneau and Bartok.

Dr. Reed joined the music faculty at Ashland University in 1986 and has taught in a number of areas including applied woodwinds, music theory, and jazz studies. He is a member of the Akron Symphony (bass clarinet), Ashland Symphony (principal clarinet), and the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra (saxophone), and has performed on clarinet or saxophone with the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Blossom Festival Orchestra, Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra, Dayton Philharmonic, Youngstown Symphony, Blossom Festival Band, and the Jazz Unit. He has been soloist with the Akron, Mansfield, and Ashland Symphonies and performs on CDs from the Akron Symphony, Cleveland Chamber Symphony, Cleveland Jazz Orchestra, and the Paul Ferguson Jazz Orchestra. His clarinet CD “Mutually Inclusive” was released in 2008 on Capstone Records. He holds degrees from The Ohio State University, the University of Michigan, and the University of Akron.

The Department of Music is pleased to welcome Dr. Olson back to her home state of Ohio for a guest artist recital. She received her Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Capital University Conservatory of Music, and her Master of Arts in Vocal Pedagogy and Doctor of Musical Arts in Vocal Performance from The Ohio State University. Dr. Olson is currently Visiting Assistant Professor of Voice at the University of Texas at San Antonio. She has performed as soloist with the San Antonio (TX) Symphony Orchestra, Monroe (LA) Symphony Orchestra, the Westerville (OH) Symphony Orchestra, and the Zanesville (OH) Civic Orchestra and with many professional choral ensembles in her home state of Ohio. Dr. Olson has had the opportunity to perform and record under the baton of many well-known conductors, most notably the late Robert Shaw – with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus and at Carnegie Hall and in the south central region of France, as a member of the Robert Shaw Festival Singers.

Dr. Olson has performed with San Antonio Opera as the Mistress of the Novices in Puccini’s Suor Angelica, Louisiana Lyric Opera as Ruth in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance and Opera/Columbus’ Education Outreach Program as The Narrator in Mark Bucci’s Sweet Betsy from Pike. Some other operatic roles performed include la zia principessa in Puccini’s Suor Angelica, Madame Flora in Menotti's The Medium, The Old Lady in Bernstein’s Candide, Cecilia March in Adamo's Little Women, Isabella in Rossini’s L'Italiana in Algeri, and Mrs. Anderssen in Sondheim’s A Little Night Music.