Choral Concert to Include Biblical Dramas, Choral and Folk Songs

The Ashland University Choir, Chamber Singers and Women’s Chorus will present an eclectic choral concert program ranging from Biblical dramas to choral and folk songs on Sunday, March 25, at 4 p.m. in the Jack and Deb Miller Chapel. The event is free and open to the public.

Dr. Rowland Blackley, professor of Music and director of Choral Activities, will conduct the University Choir and Chamber Singers with Dr. Timothy Guenther accompanying on organ and piano. The University Choir will perform several Biblical dramas reflecting the text in a manner that highlights the strength, sadness, joy or anger contained therein. Pieces will include Lotti’s Crucifixus, Stroope’s The Lamentations of Jeremiah, Philips’ Ascendit Deus, Thomas’ Rockin' Jerusalem as well as Daniel, Daniel, Servant of the Lord by Moore with soloists Drew Berlin (Barberton) and Mark Gorsuch (Ashland); and Saul by Hovland with Jake Riley (Wooster) and Ian Kieffer (Marion) as narrators.

The Chamber Singers will perform selections from two of the great sets of choral songs with four pieces from Brahms' Song and Romances (Opus 93a) including The Humpbacked Fiddler, O Sweet May, Take Heed!, and Farewell; followed by Debussy’s Three Songs of Charles of Orleans (God! She if Fair; When I Hear the Tambourine with soloist Rachel Kelly (Columbus); and Winter, You're Nothing But a Rogue).

Directed by Ashland University alumna Julie Strebler-Renner and accompanied by Susan Gregg, the Women’s chorus' selections will begin with the American folk song Hello, Girls arranged by Pfautsch; and Silvey’s Bloom, a celebration of spring; followed by And Miriam Sang by Highben which is based on Exodus 15:21. Their program will conclude with J. David Moore’s arrangement of the Appalachian folk song Will the Circle be Unbroken.

Senior Recital: Anna Rivero, soprano, Mar. 22

Ashland University Department of Music will present a senior recital with soprano Anna Rivero accompanied by pianist Deb Logan on Thursday, March 22, at 7:30 p.m. in the Elizabeth Pastor Recital Hall. The concert is free and open to the public.

Rivero is a vocal music major from Three Bridges, N.J. The program for her recital will consist of classical pieces by Scarlatti, Mozart, Puccini, Schubert and Schumann; and more contemporary compositions by Satie and Duke.

Annual Middle School Honors Band Concert, Mar. 18

In Celebration of Music in Our Schools Month, Ashland University Department of Music will host the annual Ashland County Middle School Honors Band on Sunday, March 18, at 4 p.m. in Hugo Young Theatre. The Ashland University Concert Band will be the featured guest ensemble. Joseph Lewis Jr., Ashland University director of bands, will serve as conductor for both ensembles.

Consisting of 78 members, the Ashland County Middle School Honors Band includes seventh and eighth grade students from Ashland, Crestview, Hillsdale, Loudonville-Perrysville and Mapleton Schools. Members of the Ashland County Band Directors Association meet with Lewis and Ashland’s Martin Kral, this year’s chairman, to plan the program. The committee of band directors selects the honors band members based on merit and instrumentation needs of the band. Students meet at Ashland University on Thursday, March 16, and Sunday, March 18, to rehearse and present this program with music ranging from classical selections to traditional marches.

The 53-member Ashland University Concert Band will open the concert with a cameo program of wonderful but unusual music chosen especially to highlight the day including Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man, Wagner's The Ride of the Valkyries, Irish Tune from County Derry by Percy Grainger, Foundry by John Mackey, and J.P. Sousa’s The Black Horse Troop.

The combination of these two bands makes for a rewarding, exciting and satisfying musical experience for both the performers and the audience. Admission is free and open to the public.

Jazz Vocalist Jane Monheit Headlines Maplerock

Ashland University’s award-winning jazz program is proud to present the 2018 Maplerock Jazz Festival slated for Friday, March 16. Along with free performances by area school jazz ensembles from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., the event presents a main stage concert at 7:30 p.m. in Hugo Young Theatre which features acclaimed Grammy-nominated vocalist Jane Monheit.

Monheit will perform as the headliner of the Jazz Festival's evening concert which will open with the Ashland University Jazz Orchestra under the direction of Dr. Scott Garlock. Ashland High School alumnus Chip Stephens, piano; Rich Shanklin, saxophone; and Bob Bonora, drums will join Monheit as guest artists on the evening program.

Blessed with “a voice of phenomenal beauty” (Stephen Holden, New York Times), Jane Monheit has had plenty of milestone moments in establishing herself as one of today’s best and most important vocalist-musicians. From being labeled a musical prodigy to her first runner-up finish in 1998’s Thelonious Monk International Vocal Competition, Jane’s ingénue looks and passion for the Great American Songbook led her to producing Songbook Sessions: Ella Fitzgerald, her tenth studio recording since her 2000 debut, Never Never Land.

Monheit explains, "The Great American Songbook is always going to be the core for me. I have a real sense of pride and purpose about keeping it alive, bringing the music to new generations." It’s a national treasure. I’m really proud to be one of the singers that people want to hear handling that material.”

Jazz pianist Chip Stephens returns to his hometown to join Monheit at Maplerock. His collaborative, recording and world-wide touring with some of the legendary figures in the history of jazz would compile a dissertation. He has performed on Grammy and Emmy Award winning recordings and is sought after for his hard-swinging, powerful and lyrical pianism. As professor of jazz piano at the University of Illinois, Stephens has been consistently ranked in the top 10% of University of Illinois professors since 2005. He was recognized by the Provost, Vice Chancellor and the Committee on Tenure and Promotion as being “Extraordinary for the level of his Teaching and Collaborative Artistry.”

Saxophonist Rich Shanklin has been a faculty member at the University of Akron since 1982, where he teaches classical and jazz saxophone, coaches saxophone quartets, and teaches courses in jazz history, jazz arranging, woodwind pedagogy and the business of music. He has also directed the Vocal Jazz Ensemble. He is a member of the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra, the Jazz Unit, and the Blossom Festival Band, and has also played woodwinds for countless performances at Playhouse Square as a member of the pit orchestra.

Percussionist Bob Bonora has worked with a variety of entertainers, performing in virtually every hotel and showroom in Las Vegas. He currently is on the faculty of The College of Southern Nevada, where he is Lead Faculty for Music, coordinator of Percussion/Steel Drum and Drum Set Studies as well professor of History of Rock Music. Bob is also currently percussionist with Vegas! The Show at Planet Hollywood. He has performed as percussionist with The Wayne Newton Orchestra, and as a member of the Crimes Against Nature Band for the Emmy Award Nominated Penn & Teller television show “Sin City Spectacular.” He has also performed with an endless list of premier artists from Harry Connick, Jr. and Alicia Keys to Luciano Pavarotti and Andrea Bocelli. Bob has done work in many of the Broadway shows playing in Las Vegas including The Producers, Mama Mia, We Will Rock You, Avenue Q, Annie, and The Full Monty.

These four guest artists will conduct a public clinic with nine area school bands that will perform earlier in the day in Hugo Young Theatre. After each band performs their 30-minute concert, the guest artists will meet with the band and offer their expertise to strengthen the ensemble and individual musician's performance. The Jazz Festival's afternoon performances are scheduled as follows:

11:30 a.m. Foundation Academy Jazz Band

12:00 p.m. Ashland High School Jazz Band B

12:30 p.m. Lake High School Jazz Band

1:00 p.m. Rittman High School Jazz Band

1:30 p.m. Ashland High School Jazz Band A

2:00 p.m. GlenOak High School Jazz Band II

2:30 p.m. Brecksville-Broadview Heights High School Jazz Ensemble

3:00 p.m. Galion High School Jazz Band

3:30 p.m. GlenOak High School Jazz Band I

The afternoon performances are free and open to the public while tickets for the evening concert are available through the Ashland University Box Office at 419.289.5125, 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, or online (additional fees apply) at www.ashland.edu/tickets.

Tickets for the evening concert are $10 for adults; $5 for senior citizens, non-Ashland University students and Ashland University faculty and staff; and free for Ashland University students.