Auditions for PIPPIN Open to All

Ashland University Department of Theatre announces open auditions for their upcoming production of the 2013 Tony Award winner for Best Musical Revival--Pippin. Community members and Ashland University students, faculty and staff are invited to audition.

Vocal auditions for Pippin will be held Thursday, September 1 at 7 p.m. with dance auditions held on Friday, September 2 at 6 p.m., and call-backs immediately following the dance auditions on Friday. All auditions will be held in Ashland University's Hugo Young Theatre located at 331 College Avenue, Ashland.

Pippin will be directed by Assistant Professor of Theatre Robert Sean Parker with musical direction by Dr. Rowland Blackley, Director of Choral Activities. Performances are slated for February 10-18 and include roles for three women and three men, chorus members and a young boy. Auditionees should prepare 16-32 bars of a song in a style similar to the show or a song can also be provided for those who do not have one. An accompanist will be provided. 

For more information, contact Tricia Applegate, Coordinator of Publicty and Events, at tapplega@ashland.edu or 419.289.5950, or visit AU Theatre online at www.ashland.edu/theatre or www.facebook.com/AshlandUniversityTheatre.

Ashland Area Chorus Accepting New Members

Entering its eighteenth season, the Ashland Area Chorus (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.

Rehearsals for the fall semester begin Monday, August 29 from 7-8:45 p.m. in Room 242 of the Center for the Arts and continue at the same time on subsequent Mondays, but will not meet on Labor Day.

This fall, the chorus will perform Dvořák's Mass in D on Sunday, November 13 at 4 p.m in the Jack and Deb Miller Chapel. The chorus will also perform at Ashland University's annual Festival of Lights service on December 11.

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 via phone at 419.289.5125 or online at www.ashland.edu/music by clicking on the "Buy Tickets & Memberships" icon.

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

Ashland Area Chorus Invites Locals to Sing in Abbreviated Summer Session

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 6 and continues for four consecutive Mondays including: June 6, 13, 20, 27. 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, July 3 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 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 6.

AU Choirs Touring Northern Ohio, WV and DC

Ashland University alumni and friends are cordially invited to attend an upcoming concert of the Ashland University Choir and Chamber Singers as they travel close to you. The  2016 tour presents concerts scheduled at various churches in northern Ohio, West Virginia and Washington DC. The following performances are free and open to the public.

• Monday, May 16, 7:30 p.m. at Zion Lutheran Church, 503 Columbus Ave, Sandusky OH, 419.625.2112 
• Tuesday, May 17, 7:30 p.m. at Messiah Lutheran Church, 21485 Lorain Rd, Fairview Park OH, 440.331.2405 
• Wednesday, May 18, 7 p.m. at St. Paul's Lutheran Church, 309 Baldwin St, Morgantown WV, 304.599.0620 
• Thursday, May 19, 7:30 p.m. at St. Joseph's Catholic Church, 313 2nd St NE, Washington DC, 202.547.1223 

Under the direction of Dr. Rowland Blackley the 2016 Tour program includes selections from throughout the 2015-2016 concert season. Pieces by American composers Morten Lauridsen, Jean Berger, Eric Whitacre, and Moses Hogan are featured along with those of Schütz and Mendelssohn. The Ashland University Chamber Singers will contribute madrigals from the Renaissance and more popular charts from the twentieth century.  Selections from Handel's Messiah 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 Ashland 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.  

Concert Band Tours to Area High Schools

The Ashland University Band is the only campus group that arrives early to campus in the fall and stays after finals in the spring to perform at graduation and on tour. Under the direction of Gary Ciulla, the Ashland University Concert Band will perform at three area high schools for their 2016 Spring Tour as follows:

• Thursday, May 12 at 9:30 a.m.: Williard High School
• Thursday, May 12 at 2 p.m.: New London High School
• Friday, May 13 at 11 a.m.: Bellevue High School

Music Students Honored

As the 2015-2016 academic year concludes, the Department of Music recognized students for their academic and performance accomplishments. At the University's Academic Honors Convocation on April 24, outstanding academic students from each Department were recognized including the following music students:

• Hannah Wise, Sophomore Academic Award 
• Abigail Brady, Junior Academic Award
• Rachel Crow, Senior Academic Award

The Spring Honors Recital featured performances by those students who accomplished exceptional musical performances in the 2016 Spring semester including vocalists Jacob Poiner, Elisha Hofer, Sarah Napier, Fatima Imani Smith; and instrumentalists Jaylynn Buchmelter (trombone), Nik Psota (trumpet), Chanel Bluntschly (saxophone), Dominic Febbo (guitar) and Emily Minns (flute).

At the conclusion of the Spring Honors Recital, several other awards were presented including: 

• The Ohio Collegiate Music Educators Association (OCMEA) Leadership Award to Hannah Wise, Rachel Crow, Jaylynn Buchmelter, Jessie Barnhouse and Jacob Poiner
• The Zach Spier Memorial Award for outstanding contribution from a non-music major to Emily Sparks and Alexandria Sandwisch
• Most Improved Music Major to Jessica Barnhouse
• Outstanding Student Teacher to Shayne Smith
• Outstanding Performer to Emily Minns and Jaylynn Buchmelter
• Outstanding Music Major to Hannah Phillips.

The Department also recognized the graduating senior music majors at a special dinner in their honor. Congratulations and all the best in their future to (l-f) Hannah Phillips, Rachel Crow, Shayne Smith, Jessica Barnhouse, and Fatima Imani Smith (not pictured).

Spring Band Concert to Honor Senior Graduates

Ashland University Department of Music concludes an eventful 2015-2016 academic year on Sunday, May 8 at 4:00 p.m. in Hugo Young Theatre with the annual Spring Band Concert. The Ashland Area Community Concert Band under the direction of Leonard Salvo, and the Ashland University Concert Band directed by Gary Ciulla will perform and senior Concert Band members will be recognized for their dedication and contribution to the AU Band program. Admission to the concert is complimentary, and open to the public.

The Ashland Area Community Concert Band will open the concert with selections including Alfred Reed's A Jubilant Overture which is written in the natural exuberance of young spirits in springtime; Frank Ticheli's An American Elegy which was composed in memory of those who lost their lives at Columbine High School and to honor the survivors; along with a medley of songs from the awarding winning musical Fiddler on the Roof. The Community Band will close their portion of the concert with Castle Gap by Clifton Williams, a march depicting the strength and vigor of the pioneers in dealing with a rugged terrain and climate.

After a brief intermission, the University Concert Band will perform a program of different cultures with Santiago Lope's Gallito, a paso-doble in the Flamenco style; Franz Joseph Haydn's Armida Overture from his three act opera set in Jerusalem and First Suite in E-flat by British composer Gustav Holst. Trumpet soloists Alexandria Sandwisch (Elmore), Nikolaus Psota (Hinckley) and Hannah Phillips (Plymouth) will be featured in Leroy Anderson's Bugler's Holiday. The concert will conclude with Brant Karrick's Bayou Breakdown, a fun and whimsical fugue with a Cajun twist.