Sing with AAC & ASO for Independence Day

The Ashland Area Chorus, a non-auditioned mixed choir of 40-60 participants, invites local singers to join them for the short summer session and to perform with the Ashland Symphony Orchestra. The 4-week rehearsal schedule begins on June 3 and continues for four consecutive Mondays including: June 3, 10, 17, 24. Each rehearsal is from 7-8:30 p.m. at Ashland University in Room 242 of the Center for the Arts (formerly the Arts and Humanities building). The session will conclude on Sunday, June 30 with a live performance of light, popular, and patriotic tunes with the Ashland Symphony Orchestra for the Pops In the Park concert at Brookside Park Band Shell.

The Chorus is open to the entire Ashland community and beyond, with previous singers travelling from Richland, Medina, Wayne, Holmes, and Crawford counties. Previous choral experience is helpful and encouraged. While there are no strict age limits, singers under 18 must be approved by the director. There is no cost to the singer for the summer session.

The AAC performs in several concerts each year on the AU campus and with the Ashland Symphony Orchestra. Recent appearances have included a stand-alone presentation of the Dvořák Mass in D Minor, subscription concerts with the ASO (including Orff’s Carmina Burana, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, and Mendelssohn’s Elijah), Ashland University choral concerts (including Handel's Messiah and the Brahms Requiem) and summer pops concerts in the park.

Current members should encourage their talented friends and neighbors to attend the first summer rehearsal to join this unique community opportunity. For further information, please contact the AU Director of Choral Activities, Dr. Ron Blackley, at rblackle@ashland.edu or (419) 289-5114. Or, simply show up on June 3.

Guard Tryouts, June 6

Ashland University Music announces that Guard Tryouts for Marching Band will be held on June 6 at 2 p.m. (following the orientation events for that day). We will meet in the band room and go from there.

QUESTIONS? Contact:
Joe Lewis, Director of Bands, Ashland University
jlewisjr@ashland.edu | 419.289.5132

Choir Touring to Chicago

All alumni and friends of Ashland University are cordially invited to attend one of the University Choir's upcoming concerts as they travel close to you. The 2019 tour presents concerts scheduled at various churches and high schools in central Ohio and northern Indiana. The following performances are free and open to the public.

Monday, May 6, 7:30 p.m.
Oak Chapel Methodist Church, 4203 W. Old Lincoln Way
Wooster, OH | 330.264.2537

Tuesday, May 7, 7:30 p.m.
Gethsemane Lutheran Church, 35 E. Stanton Avenue
Columbus, OH | 614.885.4319

Wednesday, May 8, 7:30 p.m.
Christ Lutheran Church, 2610 N. Campbell Street
Valparaiso, IN | 219.462.6660

Under the direction of Dr. Rowland Blackley, the 2019 tour program includes pieces by contemporary composers Morten Lauridsen, Don MacDonald, Shawn Kirchner, and Stacey Gibbs along with those of Mendelssohn, Bruckner, Britten, and Mozart. The AU Chamber Singers will contribute madrigals from the Renaissance and more popular charts from the 20th and 21st centuries. Selections from Haydn's “Little Organ Mass” round out the program. There’s something for every choral taste!

The choirs are accompanied by Dr. Timothy E. Guenther, University Organist and Director of Music Ministry at Gethsemane Lutheran Church in Columbus, Ohio. He 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.

The University Choir is composed of singers representing many academic majors across campus. Each year the members are selected by private audition and rehearse three days a week. The ensemble performs programs of unaccompanied literature of all eras as well as major works with orchestra.