Choir, Voice, Opera, Church Music
B.A., Goshen College, 1979; M.M., University of
Northern Colorado, 1985; D.M.A.,
University of Kansas, 2003.
Since coming to Goshen in 1999, Dr. Debra
Brubaker has directed the Goshen College Chorale and Chamber Choir, and
has recently created the Women's World Music Choir. Debra's choirs have
performed with the Toledo Symphony and South Bend Symphony, as well as
touring to many parts of the United States and Canada, singing at venues
including the Washington National Cathedral and the New York World Trade
Center site. Recent Goshen College operas that she has directed include
Bizet's Carmen, Sondheim's Into the Woods and Strauss's Die
Fledermaus. Debra's voice students regularly compete
and place at regional NATS competitions. An accomplished hymn leader,
Debra Brubaker’s contacts in Mennonite churches and schools provide
ample opportunity for her to practice the art of bringing people together
through shared song.
Sonny Carreño, B.Mus.E.
Jazz Band Director
Lavander Jazz
B.Mus.E., Texas State University–San Marcos, 1983
Sonny Carreño is director
of Lavender Jazz, Goshen College’s big band. After earning
a bachelor of music education degree from Texas State University
- San Marcos, he taught band for five years in the Victoria
(Texas) Independent School District. Sonny has taught English
as a New Language (ENL) for the past 11 years and currently
chairs the ENL Department at Goshen Middle School. For over
25 years he has kept his drumsticks on the pulse of the street
by playing professionally in a variety of styles and venues,
including Latin, Rock/Pop, R&B, Country and Western, and
World Beat.
Lee Dengler, M.M.
Assistant Professor of Music
Composition and Voice
B.M., West Chester University, 1981; M.M., West Chester University,
1984.
Lee Dengler has over 180 choral, vocal and piano
works published by many of the major music publishers. He also
serves as creative consultant and editor for Shawnee Press,
a leading choral publisher in the United States. Lee is the
director of the Goshen Community Chorale. He is a bass/baritone
soloist and has sung in numerous oratorio and operatic productions.
He studied choral composition and arranging with Alice Parker
at Westminster Choir College as well as in her home in New
England where he participated in the Melodious Accord Fellowship
program. Lee and his wife, Susan, are ministers of music and
arts at College Mennonite Church where he directs the 60-voice
adult choir.
Susan Dengler, M.M.
Assistant Professor of Music
Voice and Vocal Methods and Pedagogy
B.S., West Chester University, 1981; M.M., Valparaiso University, 2000.
A lyric soprano, Ms. Dengler has performed
throughout the East and the Midwest, with an extensive list
of operas and oratorios to her credit. In addition to her
work at Goshen College, Susan serves as minister of music
and arts at College Mennonite Church, where she directs Jubilee
Singers, High School Choir and Youth Ensemble. She is submissions
editor, as well as composer, arranger and lyricist for Shawnee
Press. Susan also serves as the director for the 40-voice
Children's Choir of Michiana, based
in South Bend, Ind.
Matthew Hill, D.M.A.
Associate Professor of Music, Department Co-Chair
Piano, Music History, Humanities, Piano Pedagogy B.M.,
Southwest Missouri State University, 1987; M.M., University of Kansas,
1989; D.M.A., University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1995.
Previously on the piano faculty
at the Wausau Conservatory of Music, Dr. Matthew Hill has
performed with several university orchestras including a
performance of Samuel Barber’s Piano Concerto with
the UW-Madison Symphony and has also performed with the Central
Wisconsin Symphony, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, and
on Wisconsin Public Radio’s Live from the Elvehjem.
He has studied with Howard Karp and renowned Beethoven interpreter
Claude Frank. Matthew Hill co-coordinates and presents lectures
at the Goshen College Piano Workshop and Academy, has been
published in Clavier, and has also presented papers
for the College Music Society, the Music Teacher’s
National Association, and at the University of Kansas for
a conference
on the music of Olivier Messiaen.
Scott Hochstetler, D.M.A.
Assistant Professor of Music
Choir, Voice, Conducting
B.A., Goshen College, 1997; M.M., University of Michigan, 2000; M.A., Western Oregon University, 2005; D.M.A., Michigan State University, 2008
Scott Hochstetler is Assistant Professor of Music at Goshen College, where he directs the Chorale and Men’s Chorus and teaches applied voice and conducting. Scott was music director at Western Mennonite School in Salem, Oregon from 2000-2005 and has taught at Corban College and the University of Michigan—Flint. He holds a doctorate in choral conducting from Michigan State University, master’s degrees in conducting and voice from the University of Michigan, and a bachelor’s in music and biology from Goshen College. Scott lives in Goshen with his wife Rachel and daughter Leah.
Beverly Lapp, M.M.
Associate Professor of Music
Piano, Piano Pedagogy, Aural Skills
B.A., Goshen College, 1991; M.M., Westminster Choir College of Rider
University, 1993.
Beverly Lapp is in her twelfth year on the Goshen College music faculty where she has had diverse experiences in teaching and administration. In addition to teaching piano, piano pedagogy, and humanities she has previously served as interim chair of the music department, director of the piano preparatory program, and director of international study terms in Peru and the Dominican Republic. She is co-coordinator of the Piano Workshop and Academy, a four-day summer event for piano teachers and high school students. Lapp’s undergraduate and graduate degrees are from Goshen College and Westminster Choir College of Rider University.
Christine Larson Seitz, M.M.
Assistant Professor of Music
Music Theory, Music Technology, Staff Accompanist
B.M., Indiana University-South Bend, 1970; M.M., Indiana
University-South Bend, 1991.
Previously on the
faculty at IUSB and Bethel College, Mishawaka, Christine
Seitz has been a sought-after recital accompanist in Michiana
for 35 years. She has studied with Robert Hamilton and John
Owings. Since 1978 Christine has been the accompanist and
assistant director for the St. Joseph Valley Camerata, and
has been the organist at First United Methodist Church in
Mishawaka since 1987.
Solomia Soroka, D.M.A.
Assistant Professor of Music
Violin, Viola, Chamber Music, Advanced Music Theory, Survey of Music
Literature B.M., 1993, M.M., 1994, D.M., 1998, Kiev Conservatory; D.M.A.,
Eastman School of Music, 2002.
Born in the Ukraine,
Dr. Soroka made her solo debut with the Lviv Philharmonic
Orchestra at the age of 10, performing the Mendelssohn
Violin Concerto. She has appeared as soloist and chamber
musician in Australia, New Zealand, Germany, France, Italy,
Ukraine and the United States. The winner of top prizes in
three prestigious international violin competitions, she
served
as Artist-in-Residence
at James Cook University in Australia from 1994 to 1997.
She has given the Australian and American premieres of several
important contemporary Ukrainian compositions
Matthias Stegmann, M.M.
Instructor of Music
Guitar, Recording Engineer
B.M., Musikhochschule Koln, 1986; M.M., University of Cincinnati - College
Conservatory
of Music, 1993.
Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, Music Education
B.M., Boston University; M.M.E., University of Hartford, Hartt School of Music; D.M.E., Cincinatti College-Conservatory of Music.
Gregg Thaller has been a full-time teacher of music for 23 years in public and private high schools as well as state and private colleges such as Boston University, University of Cincinnati, Southwest Baptist University, Evangel University, East Stroudsburg University, McPherson College, and Salem State College, where he served as chairperson of the music department. His degrees are in music education and are from Boston University, the University of Hartford’s Hartt School of Music, and the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music. He has undergone additional orchestral-conducting study at Bard College, University of Iowa, University of South Carolina, Eastman School of Music, and the Naples Philharmonic in Florida. As a percussionist Gregg performed with groups such as the Springfield (Missouri) Symphony, the Wichita Grand Opera, the Eastern Connecticut Symphony, the Massachusetts Wind Orchestra, the U.S. Coast Guard Band, the Interlochen Faculty Brass Ensemble, and a faculty jazz trio.
Christine Thögersen, M.M.
Assistant Professor of Music
Organ, Keyboard Theory, Fine Arts for Children
B.A., Goshen College, 1975; M.M.E., Illinois State University, 1981;
BEXAM, Berliner Kirchenmusikschule, 1991.
Christine Thögersen's teaching at Goshen College includes keyboard theory, fine arts for children, foundations of music theory, and applied piano and organ. In addition to her teaching at Goshen College, Christine Thögersen
teaches elementary music at Benton Elementary and serves as
organist at Eighth Street Mennonite Church in Goshen.
Goshen College
1700 South Main Street, Goshen, Indiana 46526
Toll free: 1 (800) 348-7422 • Local: (574) 535-7000 • E-mail: info@goshen.edu
Since coming to Goshen in 1999, Dr. Debra
Brubaker has directed the Goshen College Chorale and Chamber Choir, and
has recently created the Women's World Music Choir. Debra's choirs have
performed with the Toledo Symphony and South Bend Symphony, as well as
touring to many parts of the United States and Canada, singing at venues
including the Washington National Cathedral and the New York World Trade
Center site. Recent Goshen College operas that she has directed include
Bizet's Carmen, Sondheim's Into the Woods and Strauss's Die
Fledermaus. Debra's voice students regularly compete
and place at regional NATS competitions. An accomplished hymn leader,
Debra Brubaker’s contacts in Mennonite churches and schools provide
ample opportunity for her to practice the art of bringing people together
through shared song. 
Sonny Carreño is director
of Lavender Jazz, Goshen College’s big band. After earning
a bachelor of music education degree from Texas State University
- San Marcos, he taught band for five years in the Victoria
(Texas) Independent School District. Sonny has taught English
as a New Language (ENL) for the past 11 years and currently
chairs the ENL Department at Goshen Middle School. For over
25 years he has kept his drumsticks on the pulse of the street
by playing professionally in a variety of styles and venues,
including Latin, Rock/Pop, R&B, Country and Western, and
World Beat.
Lee Dengler has over 180 choral, vocal and piano
works published by many of the major music publishers. He also
serves as creative consultant and editor for Shawnee Press,
a leading choral publisher in the United States. Lee is the
director of the Goshen Community Chorale. He is a bass/baritone
soloist and has sung in numerous oratorio and operatic productions.
He studied choral composition and arranging with Alice Parker
at Westminster Choir College as well as in her home in New
England where he participated in the Melodious Accord Fellowship
program. Lee and his wife, Susan, are ministers of music and
arts at College Mennonite Church where he directs the 60-voice
adult choir.
A lyric soprano, Ms. Dengler has performed
throughout the East and the Midwest, with an extensive list
of operas and oratorios to her credit. In addition to her
work at Goshen College, Susan serves as minister of music
and arts at College Mennonite Church, where she directs Jubilee
Singers, High School Choir and Youth Ensemble. She is submissions
editor, as well as composer, arranger and lyricist for Shawnee
Press. Susan also serves as the director for the 40-voice
Children's Choir of Michiana, based
in South Bend, Ind.
Previously on the piano faculty
at the Wausau Conservatory of Music, Dr. Matthew Hill has
performed with several university orchestras including a
performance of Samuel Barber’s Piano Concerto with
the UW-Madison Symphony and has also performed with the Central
Wisconsin Symphony, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, and
on Wisconsin Public Radio’s Live from the Elvehjem.
He has studied with Howard Karp and renowned Beethoven interpreter
Claude Frank. Matthew Hill co-coordinates and presents lectures
at the Goshen College Piano Workshop and Academy, has been
published in Clavier, and has also presented papers
for the College Music Society, the Music Teacher’s
National Association, and at the University of Kansas for
a conference
on the music of Olivier Messiaen.
Beverly Lapp is in her twelfth year on the Goshen College music faculty where she has had diverse experiences in teaching and administration. In addition to teaching piano, piano pedagogy, and humanities she has previously served as interim chair of the music department, director of the piano preparatory program, and director of international study terms in Peru and the Dominican Republic. She is co-coordinator of the Piano Workshop and Academy, a four-day summer event for piano teachers and high school students. Lapp’s undergraduate and graduate degrees are from Goshen College and Westminster Choir College of Rider University. 
Previously on the
faculty at IUSB and Bethel College, Mishawaka, Christine
Seitz has been a sought-after recital accompanist in Michiana
for 35 years. She has studied with Robert Hamilton and John
Owings. Since 1978 Christine has been the accompanist and
assistant director for the St. Joseph Valley Camerata, and
has been the organist at First United Methodist Church in
Mishawaka since 1987.
Born in the Ukraine,
Dr. Soroka made her solo debut with the Lviv Philharmonic
Orchestra at the age of 10, performing the Mendelssohn
Violin Concerto. She has appeared as soloist and chamber
musician in Australia, New Zealand, Germany, France, Italy,
Ukraine and the United States. The winner of top prizes in
three prestigious international violin competitions, she
served
as Artist-in-Residence
at James Cook University in Australia from 1994 to 1997.
She has given the Australian and American premieres of several
important contemporary Ukrainian compositions
Personal Web Page
Christine Thögersen's teaching at Goshen College includes keyboard theory, fine arts for children, foundations of music theory, and applied piano and organ. In addition to her teaching at Goshen College, Christine Thögersen
teaches elementary music at Benton Elementary and serves as
organist at Eighth Street Mennonite Church in Goshen.