Dr. Swanson Receives Mentor Award

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Stefan Swanson for being recognized by the Board of Trustees with a Mentor Award! Mentor Award recipients are nominated by a student and are selected by a committee of Board members via a blind review process.

Senior Recital: Alex Trotter, Jan. 23

Ashland University Music presents a senior recital by Alex Trotter (Boston, MA) on Thursday, Jan. 23 at 7:30 p.m. in the Elizabeth Pastor Recital Hall. He will be assisted by Eric Watts, bass trombone, and Branden Barber, trumpet.  The concert is free and open to the public. 

Trotter will present his senior recital in the format of a jazz lecture recital. In addition to performing each piece on the piano, he has also composed his own arrangements of the music he will be performing along with one original composition titled "Great to be Me." Throughout the recital he will introduce each piece and explain the techniques he used to create the arrangement.

Ashland to Host OPCICA Honors Festival

Ashland University Department of Music is honored to host the 2020 Ohio Private College Instrumental Conductors Association (OPCICA) Honors Festival culminating with a free, public concert on Sunday, Jan. 19 at 1:30 p.m. in Hugo Young Theatre. The 2020 OPCICA Festival is organized by the association's president, John Packard (Mount Vernon Nazarene University), along with the local hosts from Ashland University, Joseph Lewis and Dr. Scott Garlock.

OPCICA represents the instrumental music programs in Ohio's private colleges and universities, whose primary purpose is sponsoring an annual honors festival. This year's festival will involve 111 student musicians and 25 band directors representing 17 schools including Ashland University, Bluffton University, Case Western Reserve University, College of Wooster, Defiance College, Heidelberg University, Kenyon College, Malone University, Marietta College, Mount Vernon Nazarene University, Muskingum University, Notre Dame College, Ohio Northern University, Otterbein University, University of Findlay, Wittenberg University and Walsh University.

Participating students have been nominated by their university band directors for their exceptional musicianship. All participating students and directors will arrive on the Ashland University campus on Saturday to rehearse with the OPCICA Honors Concert Band or Honors Jazz Band. The bands will then perform at Sunday afternoon's concert.

The OPCICA Honors Concert Band will perform the following pieces led by the corresponding conductors: Joyce’s 71st N.Y. Reg’t March (Joseph Lewis, Ashland University), Early Light (Roy Couch, Bluffton University), Cloudburst (Tom Roblee, Walsh University), Divertimento (Michael Kruger, Notre Dame College), and Danza Final from Estancia (Chris Schletter, Marietta College).

The OPCICA Honors Jazz Band's program will include performances of The Star-Spangled Banner, Thinking, Doin' the Things, Tones for Joan's Bones, Armando's Rhumba and Minor Bop II conducted by Jason Wyse, Malone University; Jordan Reed, Marietta College; and Jack Taylor, University of Findlay.

Ashland University students selected for the honors bands include Emma Graves on flute; Jacob Moses, Matt Roth, Hannah Smigel and Sydney Muller on clarinet; french horn players Jacob Bodnar and Bethany Leggett; and Eric Watts, bass trombone.

In addition to the OPCICA honors bands, the Ashland University Symphonic Band will perform as the host ensemble. Their selections include Sousa's Semper Fidelis, the World Premiere of Dr. Stefan Swanson's Women of World War II, Lauridsen's O Magnum Mysterium, as well as The Golden Age of the Xylophone featuring guest soloist Elizabeth Procopio.

Ashland Area Chorus Begins Rehearsals Jan. 13

The Ashland Area Chorus (AAC), under the direction of Libby Moore Slade, announces their spring schedule including rehearsals, concerts and membership requirements.

Beginning Monday, Jan. 13, Ashland Area Chorus rehearsals are held on Monday evenings from 7-8:45 p.m. in Room 242 of the Center for the Arts. This semester the Chorus will perform Beethoven's triumphal 9th Symphony with the Ashland Symphony Orchestra for their "Ode to Our 50th" concert on April 18 at Archer Auditorium.

Founded by Dr. Rowland Blackley in 1998, the AAC is dedicated to a mission of learning great music and singing it beautifully. The chorus is open to all singers from Ashland and surrounding counties and includes Ashland University faculty, staff and students as well as other singers from the wider community. Though no formal audition is required for membership, AAC members must be pitch accurate (sing 'on key') and be able to learn and perform their parts successfully. Previous choral experience is helpful.

Membership in AAC is open to all adults. Students still in high school may also participate with the permission of the ensemble's director. A nominal membership fee of $25 for adults and $15 for high school students is requested and payable by the fourth week of rehearsals to continue participation in the ensemble for the semester. The membership fee is payable at the Ashland University Box Office online at www.ashland.edu/tickets by clicking on the "Buy Single Tickets " icon.

For further information, contact the Chorus’ director Libby Slade at eslade@ashland.edu or (419) 685-5460.

Spring 2020 Music Event Schedule Released

The Spring 2020 music event schedule for Ashland University is now available online at ashland.edu/music or in hard copy through the Ashland University Box Office.

The schedule begins with Ashland Area Chorus rehearsals resuming on Monday, Jan. 13 and the hosting of the Ohio Private College Instrumental Conductors Association (OPCICA) Honors Festival culminating with a free, public concert on Sunday, Jan. 19 at 1:30 p.m. in Hugo Young Theatre.

From the annual Maplerock Jazz Festival to the spring opera scenes, choral and band concerts, faculty and guest artist recitals -- the schedule offers something for everyone and almost all of the performances are free and open to the public.

Be sure to review the schedule today and save the date for all of your favorites.