SEVERAL STUDENT RECITALS SLATED FOR NOVEMBER

The Department of Music at Ashland University is presenting a full slate of student recitals in November including senior and junior recitals as well as student ensemble performances.  All of the student recitals are free and open to the public and are held in the Elizabeth Pastor Recital Hall in the Center for the Arts (formerly known as the Arts & Humanities Building).

The student recitals begin on Sunday, November 4 at 7:30 p.m. with a senior recital by Margaret Rickard on oboe.  She will be accompanied by pianist Pavlina Draganova and joined by guest musician Margaret Couts on oboe.  Margaret is a graduate of Cloverleaf High School (Lodi, OH), and is an instrumental music education major studying privately with oboist Andria Hoy.  

On Sunday, November 11 at 5:00 p.m., clarinetists Alex VanScoy and Katie Stone will present a joint junior recital.  They will be accompanied by pianist Pavlina Draganova and joined by guest clarinetists Robin Wolf and Janet Ankomah. Alex and Katie are music education majors and both study privately with Professor Thomas Reed. Alex graduated from Huron High School (Huron, OH) and Katie graduated from Riverview High School (Sarasota, FL).  

Also on November 11 at 7:30 p.m., Janet Ankomah will perform her senior recital on clarinet.  She will be accompanied by pianist Pavlina Draganova and joined by her applied Music Professor Thomas Reed on bass clarinet, and clarinetists Robin Wolf, Alex VanScoy, and Katie Stone. Janet is a native of Erie, PA and a graduate of Mansfield Senior High School studying music education with an instrumental emphasis.

The Jazz combos and percussion ensemble will present a student ensembles recital on Wednesday, November 14 at 7:30 p.m.  Under the direction of instructors Jeff Neitzke and Ashley Summers, these  ensembles will perform a wide variety of traditional and contemporary pieces.

On Thursday, November 15 at 7:30 p.m., the student chamber ensembles will each perform a selection of chamber music.  The ensembles include the brass under the direction of Michael Metcalf, clarinets with Dr. Reed, flutes with Jane Berkner and strings with Jane Reed.

The last student recital for the month is a senior recital with oboist Margaret Couts on Sunday, November 18 at 3:00 p.m.  She will be accompanied by pianist Pavlina Draganova and joined by guest musician Margaret Rickard, English horn. A graduate of Delaware Hayes High School (Delaware, OH), Margaret is an instrumental music education major studying privately with Andria Hoy.

For more information about the music department and a full events schedule, visit the Web site at www.ashland.edu/music or contact Tricia Applegate, coordinator of performing arts publicity and events, at 419-289-5950 or tapplega@ashland.edu.

FALL CHORAL CONCERT FOCUSING ON MUSIC IN THE SPIRITUAL TRADITION

Ashland University’s fall choral concert presents a program of music in the spiritual tradition including mostly, but not exclusively, Christian texts by composers from several centuries in various musical styles.  The concert will feature three University vocal ensembles including the Ashland University Choir, Ashland Area Chorus and Ashland University Women’s Chorus on Sunday, October 14, 4:00 p.m. at the Jack and Deb Miller Chapel.  The performance is free and open to the public.

Conducted by Dr. Rowland Blackley, Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities, and accompanied by University organist Dr. Timothy Guenther, the Ashland Area Chorus will present two major oratorio choruses by George Frideric Handel including “Awake the Trumpet’s Lofty Sound” from Samson, and “Sing Unto God” from Judas Maccabeaus, along with John Rutter's  “Open Thou Mine Eyes.”

Dr. Blackley will also conduct the Ashland University Choir performing Jacques Arcadelt's "Ave Maria" from the Italian Renaissance period, two settings of the famous poem “I Am the Rose of Sharon” from the Biblical Song of Songs by the early American composer William Billings and contemporary Swiss composer Ivo Antognini, and "The Eyes of All" by twentieth century American composer Jean Berger.  The University Choir will also sing "True Light," a gospel-style piece by Keith Hampton, with piano accompaniment by Bret Cowden, senior vocal performance major from Paris, Ohio; and "My Soul’s Been Anchored in the Lord” by Moses Hogan, the greatest composer and arranger of African-American spirituals in the latter part of the twentieth century.

The Ashland University Women's Chorus, directed by Dr. Marla Butke, Associate Professor and Coordinator of Music Education, will perform two Native American pieces and sacred music by Antonio Caldera, Eleanor Daley, and John Rutter with Holly Allan as accompanist. The Native American songs arranged by Barbara Sletto will feature Alex VanScoy on recorder for "Ancient Mother," and Stephen Morsher on percussion for "The Earth Is Our Mother."  The sacred pieces will include Nancy Grundahl's arrangement of Caldera's "Laudamus Te," Daley's "The Cloths of Heaven," Rutter's "A Clare Benediction," and Valerie Shields arrangement of E. Amiran's "Mayim, Mayim" with Don Haught on flute.