Sandra Tunnell Tapped as Celebrity Tubist for Ashland's TubaChristmas

The local holiday favorite TubaChristmas returns to Ashland University's Hugo Young Theatre on Saturday, December 3 at noon with Sandra Tunnell, Ashland City Council person and Ashland Main Street executive director, as the "Celebrity Tubist." The concert is free and open to the public and invites area tuba, euphonium and baritone players to perform.  Musician registration will begin at 10:00 a.m. followed by a rehearsal at 10:20 a.m.  

TubaChristmas is an idea conceived by Harvey Phillips, Professor of Tuba at Indiana University. Mr. Phillips wanted to demonstrate to the public what a beautiful sound a mass ensemble of tubas and euphoniums could make and to provide an opportunity for fellow low brass players to celebrate the season with the community.
TubaChristmas is dedicated to the memory of Mr. William J. Bell.  It is a fun, holiday tradition the whole family can enjoy.

The registration fee for participating musicians is $10 and includes a 2016 TubaChristmas button. The TubaChristmas carol book is also available for $20. Musicians are asked to bring their own folding stand.

Vocal Majors to Perform Senior Recitals

The Department of Music at Ashland University announces the senior vocal recitals for Deric Dove, baritone, and Abbie Brady, soprano, who both study private voice with Stephanie Sikora. Both recitals will be held on Sunday, Nov. 20 in the Elizabeth Pastor Recital Hall. Both concerts are free and open to the public.

Dove presents his concert beginning at 3 p.m. assisted by pianist Deb Logan and fellow baritone Michael Cowan. His program includes pieces from the Classical and Romantic periods with art songs from Maurice Ravel's Don Quichotte a Dulcinee and Franz Schubert's Heidenroslein, Die Forelle and Erlkonig; along with comedic opera arias from Gaetano Donizetti's Don Pasquale and Gioachino Rossini's Barber of Seville. He will also perform musical theatre selections from Gilbert & Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance, Lionel Bart's Oliver! and George Gershwin's Treasure Girl. Dove is a music education major from Newark Ohio.

Brady will begin her recital at 7:30 p.m. and will be assisted by pianist Deb Logan and Andrea Disch, mezzo-soprano. Her program will include pieces from the Baroque period with G. F. Handel's arias Va Godendo and Alma Mia, as well as the Classical period represented by W. A. Mozart's comical duet To Greet You My Lady from The Marriage of Figaro. She will also perform several art songs such as Richard Strauss' Nichts, John Duke's Little Elegy and Ernest Gold's Music When Soft Voices Die. Miss Brady is from Ashtabula, Ohio and is majoring in music and psychology.

AUJO Concert Presents Three Ensembles Including Alumni Band

The Ashland University Department of Music will present an Ashland University Jazz Concert on Monday, Nov. 21, at 7:30 p.m. in Hugo Young Theatre. The concert is free and open to the public.

Under the direction of Dr. Scott Garlock, the concert will offer pre-concert music from a jazz combo followed by jazz standards performed by the Ashland University Jazz Orchestra (AUJO) and a newly formed AUJO Alumni Band. For any alumni who are interested and available to participate, a rehearsal will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 16, from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Elizabeth Pastor Recital Hall.

The Ashland University Jazz Orchestra’s program will be selected but not limited to pieces including Frank Foster’s Blues in Hoss Flat, Dave Morgan’s Consolation, Howie Smith’s Fleece Market, and Sweet Georgia Bright as arranged by Mike Kamuf. They also will perform a couple of Rosemary Clooney vocal charts including Get Me to the Church on Time and You Took Advantage of Me.

The 2016-2017 AUJO roster includes saxophonists Michael Byndas, Josh Thompson, Derek Rangel, Jacob Garry and Jason Wolfe; Nik Psota, Alex Sandwisch, Tyler McFarland and Branden Barber on trumpet; trombonists Jaylynn Buchmelter, Hannah Drake, Frank Stanek and Cody Henderson; while the rhythm section consists of Emily Ebert and Garrett Rangel on bass, guitarist Dominic Febbo and pianist Stefan Jonsson. This year's vocalist is Gracie Fumic.

Dvořák's Mass in D, Nov. 13

Antonín Dvořák's Mass in D will be performed live in concert under the direction of Elizabeth Slade with the Ashland Area Chorus (AAC) and several guest soloists including organist Susan Gregg, mezzo-sopranos Denise Milner Howell and Sandra Ross, tenor Tim Johnson and baritone Brian Keith Johnson. The concert will be held on Sunday, November 13 at 4 p.m. in the Jack and Deb Miller Chapel at Ashland University. The performance is free and open to the public with a freewill offering accepted to benefit the Sandy Brown Honorary Vocal Music Teacher Mini-Grant Fund through the Ashland County Community Foundation.

The concert will showcase Dvořák's original composition for vocal soloists, choir and organ which was published in 1887. The piece was written at the request of Josef Hlávka, founder of the Czech Academy of Sciences and Art, for the consecration of his new chapel that was built at his castle in Lužany in Western Bohemia. Because of the small size of the Lužany chapel, the Mass was written for an intimate space with an organ instead of an orchestra. In addition, Dvořák wrote it for a modest presentation in a more lyrical and prayerful arrangement than dramatic. It also reflected his love of nature and the tranquil countryside surrounding Hlávka's castle through the folk inspired movements. The work observes the customary parts of the Catholic Ordinary of the Mass including Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Benedictus and Agnus Dei.

In her fourth year as the Ashland Area Chorus director, Slade also teaches musicianship courses at Ashland University, and serves with her husband, Peter Slade, in leading worship music at Ashland First United Methodist Church. She holds a B.A. in Music and French from the University of Virginia and an M.Ed. from Harvard University where she studied choral conducting and served as choral administrator for the Harvard Choirs. During her time at Harvard, she was a member of the professional Choir of the Church of the Advent in Boston and a soprano soloist in and around the Boston area. Slade went on to direct the Virginia Women’s Chorus at the University of Virginia and has studied voice and performed with choirs in Virginia, New England and London, UK. In 2009, Slade recruited and directed the hundred-voice Kroc Center Dedication Chorus for the opening of the Salvation Army’s new community center.

In its eighteenth season, the AAC was founded by Dr. Rowland Blackley, director of choral activities at Ashland University. The ensemble is dedicated to a mission of learning great music and singing it beautifully. With over 60 members this fall, 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. The chorus sings on programs with the Ashland University Choir and performs annually with the Ashland Symphony Orchestra. New members are always welcome and are invited to the Monday evening rehearsals held at 7 p.m. in Room 242 of the Center for the Arts at Ashland University. 

Turkish Musician Presents as 2016 Gretchen French Visiting Artist

Turkish singer, composer and scholar Latif Bolat has been selected for the 2016 Gretchen French Visiting Artist Series in Music at Ashland University. Bolat will visit Ashland University on October 31 and November 1 to present two workshops and a concert. All of the events are free and open to the public.

The first workshop titled "1000 Years of Eastern and Western Music Journeys" is scheduled for Monday, October 31 at 2 p.m. in Room 303 of the Center for the Arts. The second workshop will focus on the religion of Islam and will be held on Tuesday, November 1 at 1:40 p.m. in the Schar College of Education's Ronk Lecture Hall. 

On October 31 at 7:30 p.m., Bolat will perform a concert titled "The Healing Sounds of Turkey:  A Night of Turkish Mystic Sufi Music, Poetry and Images." Specializing in the ancient Turkish mystic-devotional music genre, Bolat provides a unique philosophy and approach to the performance of traditional music. By creating an intimate, almost "storytelling" atmosphere, he explains Turkish folk and mystic music and its sociopolitical and cultural elements. The performance both entertains and invites the audience to ponder questions such as how major sociopolitical factors influence culture and the art it produces.

As an important part of the performance, Turkish devotional poetry from the 13th century mystics Rumi and Yunus Emre as well as later Turkish mystic poets are also sprinkled throughout the program. Also, slides are used to create a complete experience by providing scenes of the Turkish countryside, cities, artwork, architecture, and people. This provides a deeper understanding of the culture by combining the musical presentation with images of its origin.

Latif Bolat, one of the most renowned Turkish musicians in North America, is a native of the Turkish Mediterranean town of Mersin. After receiving his degree in folklore and music at Gazi University in Ankara, Turkey, he taught traditional music throughout the country. He then went on to manage Ankara Halk Tiyatrosu, a musical theater company, which performed traditional musical plays. Mr. Bolat also received additional degrees in Turkish History and Middle East Religion and Politics from Ankara University and an MBA from San Francisco State University.

Now residing in the United States, Bolat is one of the most distinguished Turkish musicians in this country. With a vast repertory that includes songs in classical, folk and Sufi mystic music styles, he accompanies his singing on the baglama (long-necked lute), and various other traditional instruments from the Turkish folk music tradition. 

The Gretchen French Endowed Visiting Artist Series at Ashland University was established through a bequest from the estate of Gretchen French.  Although Ms. French never attended Ashland University, it was through close friends and alums, Phillip (‘53) and Jean (‘55) Lersch, that she decided Ashland was well suited to demonstrate in perpetuity her values and hopes for young people.  Her entire life was dedicated to people, placing others' needs before her's by unselfishly serving them, in particular her family and many, many young musicians. This is a fitting tribute to her and will be a continual reminder of her love not only of music but most importantly people.

The goal of the Series is to provide Ashland University students close contact and mentoring with an outstanding visiting musician/music teacher. The particular field of expertise for the Series will vary from year to year. It is a goal of the Series to find Visiting Artists that have the widest possible expertise and appeal to students in various areas of music study.

Fall Choral Concert, Oct. 30

The Ashland University Choir, Chamber Singers and the Women's Chorus present their fall choral concert on Sunday, October 30 at 4 p.m. in the Jack and Deb Miller Chapel. The performance is free and open to the public.

With a program featuring selections from the Baroque period to contemporary pieces by living composers, the concert will bridge the old with the new by celebrating Dr. Rowland Blackley's 20-year tenure as Ashland University's Director of Choral Activities and Kimberly Wolbert's inaugural concert directing the Women's Chorus.

The University Choir's program will begin with Johann Sebastian Bach's Classical period piece Motet No.3, "Jesu, meine Freude," the longest of the composer's motets. The choir is learning it in preparation for its concert tour to Germany in March, which will include a performance at the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, where Bach worked for the longest part of his career. The University Choir will also premiere a brand-new work by Cincinnati, Ohio composer Howard Helvey, "Sweet Day," which is based on a popular text by George Herbert. The piece was commissioned by a consortium of universities in Ohio including Ashland University. The Chamber Singers will perform a setting of the same text by English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams.

The Women's Chorus will also visit the past and present with their program including "Da Pacem Domine" by Melchior Franck, a German composer of the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras; and continuing to "Bonney Wood Green," the traditional Irish ballad from World War I arranged by Canadian composer Stephen Hatfield. Representing American composers, the program also features the contemporary works "Fire" by Mary Goetze which was inspired by a poem written by Patricia Taylor, a thirteen-year-old girl; and "The Seal Lullaby" by Eric Whitacre which is a dreamlike work capturing the undulating rhythm of a mother rocking her child to sleep.

Jazz at the Nest, Oct. 11

Led by Dr. Scott Garlock, Professor of Music, the award-winning Ashland University Jazz Orchestra (AUJO) will present a free public concert on Tuesday, October 11 in the Hawkins-Conard Student Center’s Eagles Nest at 7:30 p.m. Audience members are welcome to grab a snack, enjoy a beverage and relax to the live music at this free public concert.

The concert will feature vocalist Gracie Fumic on several Rosemary Clooney favorites selected from "Hey There", "Mambo Italiano," "Sway," "Someone to Watch Over Me," "Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe," "You Took Advantage of Me" and "I'm Getting Married in the Morning." Other selections will include "Sebastian's Bop," "Song for Bilbao," "Central City Sketches No. 4," "Love for Sale," and "Count Bubba."

In addition to Fumic, the 2016-2017 AUJO roster includes saxophonists Michael Byndas, Josh Thompson, Derek Rangel, Jacob Garry and Jason Wolfe; Nik Psota, Alex Sandwisch, Tyler McFarland and Branden Barber on trumpet; trombonists Jaylynn Buchmelter, Hannah Drake, Frank Stanek and Cody Henderson; while the rhythm section consists of Emily Ebert and Garrett Rangel on bass, guitarist Dominic Febbo and pianist Stefan Jonsson.