FALL CHORAL CONCERT FEATURES THREE VOCAL ENSEMBLES

Ashland University’s Fall Choral Concert features three University vocal ensembles including the Ashland University Choir, Ashland University Women’s Chorus and Ashland Area Chorus on Sunday, October 13, 4 p.m. at the Jack and Deb Miller Chapel.  The performance is free and open to the public. 

Dr. Rowland Blackley, Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities will conduct the Ashland University Choir performing the sparkling and joyful Gloria by Antonio Vivaldi, one of the most beloved pieces in the choral repertoire. The AU Choir will be joined by student soloists and the Ashland Chamber Orchestra.  They will also present a set of unaccompanied motets. 

The Ashland University Women's Chorus, directed by Dr. Marla Butke, Associate Professor and Coordinator of Music Education, will perform a variety of pieces including the Israeli folk song Hava Nashira, Bel Piacere from G. F. Handel's opera Agrippina, and contemporary pieces such as Andrea Ramsey's Heaven Unfolding with cello, Brain Tate's exhuberant Gate, Gate which is based on a Buddhist mantra, and John Rutter's The Lord Bless You and Keep You. 

Newly appointed conductor of the Ashland Area Chorus, Elizabeth Slade, will make her concert debut with the ensemble performing pieces by Duruflé, Rachmaninoff and Rutter as well as a new arrangement of a traditional American hymn commissioned for the Chorus.