UA soprano Ashlee Foreman headed to New York Philharmonic debut with Apollo's Singers

University of Akron master's student Ashlee Foreman is excited to be making her debut singing with the New York Philharmonic next week with Handel's "Messiah."

The Akron native is one of eight Northeast Ohio-based singers who will travel to New York with Apollo's Singers, under the direction of Apollo's Fire Artistic Director Jeanette Sorrell, who is making her conducting debut with the esteemed New York Philharmonic in four concerts Dec. 14-18 at Riverside Church in New York.

Sorrell will bring 40 Apollo's Singers, with others from throughout the nation, to perform at the Gothic cathedral on Manhattan's Upper West Side.

"I'm still in awe. I still think I'm dreaming just a little bit. I'm very excited. Even as just a chorus member, I'm just so honored and I just feel so incredibly humbled" to perform with the New York Philharmonic, Foreman said by phone Thursday.

Foreman, 26, has been a member of the professional Apollo's Singers for just over a year. For the first time, she'll be singing the full Handel's "Messiah," a three-part oratorio composed in 1741 that tells the story of redemption and victory over sin — a journey from darkness to light that ends with the famous "Hallelujah" chorus.

"As a performer, hearing the downbeat of the work from the beginning, it just like sends all the goosebumps up your arm," she said of the famed "Messiah."

The upcoming New York concerts with the New York Philharmonic are among the highlights of Apollo's Fire's 30th anniversary seasons.

The baroque orchestra, based in Cleveland, will perform Handel's "Messiah" in five Northeast Ohio concerts this week, starting with Wednesday's performance at 7:30 p.m. at St. Bernard's in downtown Akron.

Folks can catch Foreman, an Akron resident, among 20 Apollo's Singers who will be performing in the Akron concert plus four other local "Messiah" concerts under the direction of renowned British conductor Nicholas McGegan. Apollo's Fire also will perform the work in Chagrin Falls, at the Cleveland Museum of Art and in Shaker Heights and Bay Village through Sunday.

After that, Foreman will switch gears as she and other local Apollo's Singers join Sorrell to head to New York to perform the "Messiah" with the New York Philharmonic. Foreman mentioned an interesting difference between the at-home baroque concert and the New York Philharmonic concert: The Apollo's Fire orchestra will be doing the work with baroque tuning that's about a half step lower than the modern tuning of the New York Philharmonic.

"We sing it locally low and then we get on a plane and we go to New York and then we sing it just a bit higher," the soprano said.

Foreman is a Mosaic Artist Fellow with Apollo's Fire, a program that offers training, mentorship and leadership opportunities to young artists of color.

"The Mosaic program is designed to help and encourage and further the musical career of musicians of color," Foreman said, "to encourage us and get us out there, get us experience, get us coaching, get us technique so that we kind of have an even playing field."

Foreman, who attended Chapel Hill Christian School in Akron and sang with Summit Choral Society, went to high school at Cleveland School of the Arts, where her singing took off under choir director William Woods. He introduced her to her high school voice teacher, A. Grace Lee Mims.

At one point, Foreman planned to major in forensic anthropology in college and sing on the side. But a key conversation with high school choir director William Woods encouraged her to follow her heart.

"You love to do this. Do it. Go to school for it. There's a major for it," Woods told Foreman about a vocal performance career. "People can help you, help you develop your talent."

"It was almost like a light switch comes on whenever you hit the stage. Everything is OK and I just wanted to feel like that always, " Foreman said of her joy of performing.

She received her undergraduate degree in vocal performance from Cleveland State University, where she studied with Apollo's Fire soprano Amanda Powell.

"In high school, I was so grateful for the opportunities I got but I did know that when I came into college, there was a lot of technical stuff, that being in inner city Cleveland, you didn't have a lot of," she said.

Powell connected Foreman to Apollo's Fire, where the young singer got involved singing for in-school workshops and performances as an Apollo's Fire outreach intern.

"It was great to just ease your way into Apollo's Fire and into baroque music" through performances for children, Foreman said.

The coaching she's received with Apollo's Fire has been invaluable. That includes coaching from soprano soloists such as Apollo's Fire favorite Erica Schuller, who will perform in the Northeast Ohio "Messiah" concerts, to Sorrell herself, who has helped Foreman with her Italian diction.

Foreman joined the professional Apollo's Singers for the "O Jerusalem" concert in March 2020, the last Apollo's Fire did before the pandemic shutdown. She first performed as a soloist with the group for its "Resilience" concerts in October 2020.

Foreman, the daughter of Deidre and Gary Foreman, who is pastor at Koinonia Apostolic Faith Church in Akron, grew up in a musical family whose members sang and played the piano. It was a normal occurrence for her family to sing "Happy Birthday" in five-part harmony.

"I grew up very musical but it wasn't really something that our family really pursued as a career," said Foreman, who enjoyed singing, dance and acting as a kid.

At age 5, after seeing "The Lion King" musical live, she knew she wanted to be a performer. She performed in the Akron Symphony Orchestra's "Porgy and Bess" as a teen and in its production of "Titanic."

As a UA graduate student studying vocal performance with Laurie Lashbrook, she starred in the school's "Cinderella" in 2019. Foreman said her professors have been understanding and helpful about her juggling her professional performances with her studies.

She's been to New York once before, when she performed "O, Jerusalem" with Apollo's Fire before the shutdown. Now, she's excited to spend more time seeing the sights when she travels to New York next week.

Foreman said she's enjoyed getting to know the Apollo's Fire musicians and performing with them.

"It just feels like you're singing with friends that you make music with," she said.

Arts writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com.

Details

Concert: Handel's "Messiah"

When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday

Where: St. Bernard Catholic Church, 44 University Ave., Akron

Onstage: Apollo's Fire with guest conductor Nicholas McGegan, soloists Erica Schuller, Daniel Moody, Thomas Cooley, Hadleigh Adams

Cost: $26-$75, students $10

Information: www.apollosfire.org or 216-320-0012

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Young Akron soprano thrilled for upcoming New York Phil debut