Tooting John Ash’s horn

John Ash [photo supplied]

John Ash, an associate professor of music at the College of Central Florida, doesn’t like to toot his own horn but he agreed to an interview with the Gazette to discuss a national award he is receiving this spring.

“I just made sure that our faculty was in good enough shape to be able to get through the Zoom years and keep providing good education to all the students that were still coming around,” he allowed with a touch of modesty.

Along with teaching music classes, Ash serves as CF’s department chair for visual and performing arts, director of the college’s bands and wind symphony and has served as the faculty senate president for two years. He also has performed as principal tuba for the Johnson City Symphony Orchestra, the East Tennessee State University Wind Ensemble and other notable symphonies, including the Ocala Symphony Orchestra.

Ash is an easygoing teacher, hard-working but with high standards and expectations. 

“I’m proud of the students who persisted through the second year of the pandemic, when we were pretty much all online,” he said. “They were serious about the subjects and they were very serious about wanting to continue their education.” 

Ash will be honored with the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) 2022 Dale P. Parnell Faculty Distinction Recognition at the group’s annual conference in New York City in May. He will not be at the ceremony but expressed his appreciation for the award.

And it’s not his first award for his above-and-beyond instruction during the pandemic. Last spring, the staff at CF recognized Ash with a Stars award.

“It’s nice to get recognition, especially from the bosses but it’s a whole other feeling to be appreciated by your colleagues,” Ash acknowledged.

The Parnell award, named after a former AACC leader, recognizes individuals making a difference in the classroom.

“Professor Ash always puts our students first and has been a great asset to the College of Central Florida,” said Mark Paugh, CF’s vice president for academic affairs. “Throughout the pandemic, he has led his department to safely offer musical and theatrical instruction and performances for our students.” 

Along with the usual demands of teaching music, Ash implemented detailed procedures without compromising the quality of his instruction throughout the pandemic. Though he didn’t have an ensemble in the fall of 2020, by the spring of 2021 safety protocols had come fully into play, protecting students from catching and spreading the COVID-19 virus.

“We rescheduled to nighttime rehearsals and, to ensure safety, we spaced out the students,” he explained. “We had masks that were specially made for musicians so they could put mouthpieces and whatnot up to their lips and still make noises and we placed covers over the instruments.”

Students would rehearse alternate weeks and every two weeks, and played a concert outdoors, so their music instruction followed a relatively organic progression, culminating in a performance.

When Ash isn’t directing and teaching CF musicians, he shares quality time with his wife, Jong Ash, an English professor at the college, and three sons, ages 6 to 13. 

He also helps direct high school bands; an avocation that’s almost automatic to him since he taught high school band in Crystal River before working at CF.

“I work with high school bands often,” Ash said, “and I was recently the guest conductor for the Citrus All-County Band. So, it was basically all three of the county’s high school bands. I got a chance to conduct them all day, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

And what are those experiences like?

“First and foremost, they’re recruiting experiences for me because I want those kids to come here and get an education from me or at the very least play in my band,” he explained. “But then again, just making music with them is great too. It’s always fun to take a group of kids that have never played together and make a concert happen in three days.”

Ash has been teaching for 24 years, more than half his lifetime. He graduated from East Tennessee State University on a tuba scholarship. The big brass instrument, he insists, is too often overlooked.

“A lot of people don’t understand that it’s the most versatile instrument because it has the depth that no other instrument has,” he emphasized. “The tuba has all of the ability that all of the other instruments have as well. I’ve got a good friend, Joe Murphy, who produced an album called ‘Super Tuba.’ It is jazz tuba with a rhythm section behind him and it is just absolutely incredible.” 

 Indeed, Ash does get by with a little help from his friends. He insists he couldn’t accomplish all he does at the college without the friendship and support of his colleagues. 

“Working with the people I work with here is really an honor,” Ash said. “These are some of the finest people I’ve ever met and some of the smartest educators we have in Florida. It’s just a shame we don’t have people knocking the doors down to come learn from all of these amazing people we have here.”

For more information about the College of Central Florida’s music programs, visit CF.edu. For more information about the AACC, visit aacc.nche.edu.