Ann Usher

Title: Senior Associate Dean, Buchtel College of Arts and Sciences; Professor
Dept/Program: Music
Phone: 330/972-6923
Email: ausher@uakron.edu

Biography

Ann Usher is Senior Associate Dean, Buchtel College of Arts and Sciences, Music Education Coordinator, and Professor of Music at The University of Akron. She has taught at the University since 2000.  Previously, she taught choral music at Solon Middle School, in Solon, OH, a southeast suburb of Cleveland.  Her large choral program was recognized for excellence at the junior high/middle school level. Her groups consistently received superior ratings at OMEA (Ohio Music Education Association) adjudicated events and performed for the OMEA Professional Conference in 1995, the ACDA Central Division Conference in 1996, and the OCDA Summer Conference in 1997.

In addition to her university duties, Dr. Usher also directs the Cleveland Orchestra Children's Chorus.  This select treble choir of 5th - 9th graders performs throughout the year with the Cleveland Orchestra and the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus at Severance Hall. During the summer, the chorus performs at the Blossom Music Festival. The Cleveland Orchestra Children's Chorus also performed for the OMEA Professional Conference in 2003 and 2017 and the OCDA Summer Conference in 2009. Recent performances include Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, Schumann’s Scenes from Faust,Shore’s Lord of the RingsSymphony, Humperdink’sHansel and Gretel, Britten’s War Requiem, Orff’s Carmina Burana,Berlioz’s Te Deum,Mahler’s Symphony No. 3, and the annual Christmas Concerts.

Dr. Usher is the President Elect of Ohio Music Education Association (OMEA), a past president for OMEA District VII, and an adjudicator for OMEA in voice and piano.  She was the co-chair for the 2006 OMEA North Coast Professional Conference which involved over ten thousand teachers, students, clinicians, and exhibitors. She served for six years as the Junior High Repertoire and Standards Chair for Ohio Choral Directors Association and four years as the Youth/Student Activities chair for OCDA.  She has served as a guest clinician/conductor/adjudicator for many Ohio and national organizations, for VanderCook College in Chicago, and for the Clark County School District in Las Vegas, Nevada. She received her Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Northern Iowa, a Master of Music degree in choral conducting from Kent State University, and a Ph.D. in music education also at Kent State University.