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.

Watts Presents Original Compositions

Sophomore music and computer science dual major Eric Watts (Ontario) will present a concert of his original compositions titled "Paperclips: An evening of music for trombones" on Saturday, Nov. 17 at 7:30 p.m. in the Elizabeth Pastor Recital Hall. The event is free and open to the public.

Eric composed several pieces for a trombone quartet over this past summer and then received further guidance from Dr. Stefan Swanson, Visiting Assistant Professor of Music, who has composed over 100 film and concert scores.

Eric's program for Saturday's concert will be selected from his following pieces:

• Chaconne from First Suite in Eb
• I Love You but Don't Like You
• If Only it Wasn't for my Crooked Peg Leg 
• Trombone Quartet 5
• Having Anxiety Gives Me Anxiety
• Equal

Trombonists participating in the concert are current AU students and alumni including the composer, Matthew MacDonald, Kyle Ackert and Jaylynn Buchmelter.

AU Music Alumna Wins A Cappella Contest

Brandy Riha, BA Music '13, won a contest for her a cappella arrangement of the song "Stitches" by Shawn Mendes. The competition was sponsored by the music notation and service Noteflight.  Brandy will receive prizes of sound equipment worth $1,500 and publication of the arrangement by Hal Leonard, the largest sheet music publisher in the world.  At Ashland Brandy studied music theory and composition with Dr. Alex Sanchez Behar, Associate Professor of Music, and was the founder of AU's a cappella vocal group "Surround Sound."  The advisor for "Surround Sound" is Dr. Ron Blackley, Professor of Music. Visit Noteflight's official announcement at: notes.noteflight.com/a-cappella-winner

AU MUSIC STUDENT CAPTURES STATE COMPOSITION AWARD

Ashland University Department of Music is proud to announce that Nicholas J. Bartulovic, a sophomore history major and music minor, was awarded third place in the 2015 Ohio Federation of Music Clubs College Composers' Contest for his entry "Three Sketches for Piano." Nicholas is from Twinsburg, Ohio, studies music composition with Dr. Alex Sanchez-Behar, Assistant Professor of Music at Ashland University, and plays violin in the Ashland Symphony Orchestra. The statewide contest is offered annually by the OFMC's Foundation for the Advancement of Music to encourage the composition and performance of music, aid performing and creative artists regardless of citizenship, promote musical education, aid veterans in commencing and resuming musical careers and grant scholarships to carry out the above.