Singing Men of Ohio Launch Memorial Tour for Founder

Contact: Jess Goode at (740) 593-1886 or goode@ohio.edu

Editors: A photo of Ira Zook conducting the Singing Men of Ohio is available at: www.ohiou.edu/news/pix/ZOOK.JPG

ATHENS, Ohio (March 16, 2001) -- Ohio University's Singing Men of Ohio, a 60-member harmony group, launched a five-state memorial tour Mar. 16 in honor of founder Ira Thomas Zook, who passed away last November.

"I am looking forward to upholding the musical excellence that Dr. Zook established 12 years ago through founding the Singing Men of Ohio," said current Director Richard Mathey.

The tour began in Perrysburg, Ohio and continues through Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, D.C. and New York over the next ten days. The group will perform a variety of music ranging from classical to folk to spirituals.

Approximately one-fourth of Singing Men of Ohio members are music majors; the remainder come from all of the university's nine colleges. Membership is open by audition to all male students at the university.

In addition to its regularly scheduled performances on campus, the ensemble makes numerous community appearances and performs at alumni functions on and off campus. Previous tours have taken the ensemble through the Midwest and East Coast areas of the United States. And, in 1999, the men traveled to China for performances in Beijing, Suzhou and Shanghai.

An associate professor of voice, Zook founded the Singing Men of Ohio in 1989. He was the Director of Music at the First Presbyterian Church in Athens and the past director of the Parkersburg West Virginia Choral Society. As a tenor, he was active in recital and oratorio performances. He served two terms as president of the Ohio Buckeye Chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, and served as convention host for the Ohio Choral Directors Association.

His previous teaching positions included tenures at Eastern Michigan University and Eastern Mennonite University. He is survived by his wife Joan, son Tom and daughter Katrina.