AU’s annual Spring Choral Concert set for Sunday, May 1

ASHLAND, Ohio – Ashland University will host the annual Spring Choral Concert on Sunday, May 1, at 4 p.m., featuring the AU Choir, the Chamber Singers, the Women’s Chorus and the Ashland Area Chorus. The event, which is free and open to the public, will take place at Jack and Deb Miller Chapel.

Each ensemble will sing 4-to-6 pieces. Rowland Blackley, director of choral activities and professor of music at Ashland, and Abigail Helbling will be conducting, and Deborah Logan and Timothy Guenther will serve as pianists.

Among the selections the AU Choir, comprised of students selected via audition and representing numerous academic majors, will perform is “Silent Halls,” a piece reflecting on the silence throughout campus during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was written by Stefan Swanson, a composer-in-residence at the time. They will also present “I Hide Myself” by Eric Whitacre, “Walking on the Green Grass” by Michael Hennagin, “A Red, Red Rose” by James Mulholland and “Walk Together, Children” by Moses Hogan.

The Chamber Singers, a select choir of 12, will perform an eclectic mix, ranging from Billy Joel’s “And So It Goes,” arranged by Bob Chilcott, to a Cuban folk song, “Son de Camaguey,” arranged by Stephen Hatfield. They’re also scheduled to sing “Love Is a Sickness” by Dale Trumbore and Sammy Fain’s “I’ll Be Seeing You,” arranged by Darmon Meader.

The AU Women’s Chorus, which unites women singers from across campus, will feature soloists Miranda Bielawski, Bethany Double, Sydney Genter and McKenna Shaw during “Regine Urbach,” arranged by Francisco Nunez. In addition, the ensemble will present “Lineage” by Andrea Ramsey; “Starting Fires” by Bears in Trees and arranged by Double, an AU senior and member of the AU Choir; “The Seal Lullaby” by Rudyard Kipling and arranged by Whitacre; and the joyful “Give Us Hope” by Jim Papoulis.

The Ashland Area Chorus, a mixed choir open to anyone in the community, will perform four songs, consisting of “Three Madrigals” by Emma Lou Diemer, “Linden Lea” by Ralph Vaughan Williams, “If Music Be the Food of Love” by David Dickau and “Gentle Annie” by Stephen Foster.

Ashland University is a mid-sized, private university conveniently located a short distance from Akron, Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio. Ashland University (www.ashland.edu) values the individual student and offers a unique educational experience that combines the challenge of strong applied academic programs with a faculty and staff who build nurturing relationships with their students.