CANCELLED: FEB. 5 GUEST ARTIST RECITAL

Due to illness, the February 5, 7:30 p.m. guest artist recital with mezzo-soprano Susan Olson has been cancelled.

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.

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.