Voices-n-Harmony

Patrice Penny-Henderson, director of Voices-n-Harmony, an associate choir of the Music Department, Community School of the Arts and Multicultural Affairs Office, has worked with church and community choirs for 15 years in the Michiana area. She is currently an elementary music specialist in the Elkhart Community Schools as well as choir director at Agape Missionary Baptist Church in Elkhart. She directed a community gospel choir for the Elkhart County Symphony “Amazing Grace” 2001 concert, and has directed the Goshen College “Voices-n-Harmony” choir for the past three years. She holds a bachelor's degree in music education from Oklahoma University and a M.Ed. from Indiana Wesleyan University.

Bassoon

Cynthia Duda is a second year DMA student in bassoon performance at Michigan State University and is a candidate for a Master of Music degree in Music History and Literature from the University of Akron (OH).  She holds a Master of Music degree in bassoon performance from Western Michigan University and a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education from Bowling Green State University (OH). Cynthia performs regularly with MSU's Wind Symphony, Symphony Orchestra, and a variety of chamber groups.  She has most recently performed with the Lansing and Battle Creek Symphonies and has performed with the Tuscarawas Philharmonic and the Maple City Chamber Orchestra. In addition to her teaching assistantship at Michigan State University, Cynthia is the bassoon instructor at Albion College, teaches at MSU's Community Music School, and maintains a private studio of middle and high school bassoon students. Cynthia's principal teachers include:  Michael Kroth, Barrick Stees, Wendy Rose, Renee Dee, and Nancy Lutes.

Cello

David Machavariani’s official musical training started at the age of eight in a special music school for gifted children in the Georgian capital Tbilisi. David debuted at the age of 14 with the Georgian National Symphony. Today many of his students are successful musicians in the USA and Germany. In 1992, by invitation of Indiana University at South Bend, David came to the USA and earned his masters degree and artist diploma. Currently, he is an assistant principal in the South Bend Symphony Orchestra and Columbia (Mo.) Festival Chamber Orchestra. Mr. Machavariani currently teaches cello at Goshen College.

Flute

Rebecca Hovan is currently principal flute with the Elkhart County Symphony and performs regularly with other chamber groups in the Northern Indiana area. Mrs. Hovan is currently on the faculty at Indiana University South Bend and Goshen College. She is also an artist/clinician for Emerson Flutes. Her training includes a Master of Music from the University of North Texas where she was a Teaching Fellow in flute. She was a winner of the National Flute Association’s Masterclass Competition and has performed at the Association’s national convention several times. Mrs. Hovan has also presented various pedagogy workshops for the National Flute Association, at colleges and universities, and at various flute festivals. Her first book, an intermediate method for flute, was published in December 2003. She has served on the Pedagogy Committee of the National Flute Association since December 2002 and was recently appointed Chair of the Committee.

Harp

Suzann Young-Davids has taught and played harp internationally, conducting master classes in Thailand, Germany, and Costa Rica. She maintains an active private studio and is a regular adjudicator at national harp competitions. She received her bachelors of music in piano and harp performance from Oberlin Conservatory and her M.A. and M.F.A. in Harp Performance from State University of Iowa. In addition to performances with ballet and opera companies throughout the United States, she serves as harp instructor at Goshen College, IUSB, Valparaiso University, and Saint Mary’s College.

Horn

Michael Lewellen is currently Principal Horn of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, a position he has held since 1987. During the 2003-2004 season, he also held the position of Acting Associate Principal Horn with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and the Cincinnati Pops. Prior to assuming his post with Fort Wayne, Michael also held the position of Guest Solo Horn with the Finnish National Opera in Helsinki, Finland in 1986. He has also performed numerous times in concert and recording with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra and the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Lewellen is a graduate of The Cleveland Institute of Music where he was a student of Richard Solis, then Principal Horn of The Cleveland Orchestra. Additional studies have been with Gail Williams, Dale Clevenger, Arnold Jacobs, Albert Schmitter and Martin Morris.

Oboe

Jennet Ingle has appeared as soloist with the Illinois Chamber Orchestra, the Pine Mountain Music Festival’s Baroque Chamber Orchestra, the Northwest Indiana Symphony Orchestra, and the Rochester (NY) Philharmonic Orchestra.  In March 2007, Jennet gave the world premiere of Doug Lofstrom’s Oboe Concertino, a work commissioned for her by the New Philharmonic Orchestra and the College of DuPage.  She has performed on Chicago’s Dame Myra Hess concert series, broadcast live on WFMT radio, and in numerous solo recitals in Chicago, Springfield (IL), and Valparaiso (IN), and at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Jennet has been Principal Oboist of the Northwest Indiana Symphony Orchestra since 2002, and serves as Instructor of Oboe at Valparaiso University and at the Pine Mountain Music Festival in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.  She also performs as Principal Oboe with the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, the New Philharmonic, and the South Bend Symphony, and is a former member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago.    Jennet has served as Principal Oboe with the Spoleto-USA Festival Orchestra, and is a founding member of the Barossa Quintet.  Since 1998 she has owned and operated Jennet Ingle Reeds, specializing in customized oboe, English horn, and oboe d’amore reeds.  Jennet is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music, where she studied with Richard Killmer.

Percussion

James Bollero teaches 80 percussion students in the Michiana region through his private studio and adjunct roles at Goshen College and IUSB. He received his bachelor's of science degree in music performance from Indiana State University and master of music in music performance from Ohio State University. He performs regularly with the South Bend Symphony, Elkhart Symphony and Elkhart Municipal Band.

Trumpet

Akira Murotani is a member of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic trumpet section. He has also performed with the Grand Rapids, South Bend, and Muncie Symphonies and Des Moines Metro Opera Orchestra and was a member of the Spoleto Festival Orchestra in Italy. Murotani holds DMA and MM degrees from SUNY-Stony Brook, and BM from Luther College, Saskatchewan, Canada. Murotani has studied with Chris Gekker, William Vacchiano, Ramon Parcells, William Scarlet, Ron Anderson, and Ed Lewis. In addition to classical training, Murotani is a jazz enthusiast. He has performed in New York’s well-known jazz club, the Knitting Factory, as well as other venues in the metropolitan New York area and Long Island.

Trombone

A proud native of Louisville, Ky., Andrew Hicks is the son of Arthur and Brooke Hicks who played in the Louisville Orchestra for more than 40 years. During and after his musical studies at the Cincinnati Conservatory and the Cleveland Institute, Andrew has had the good fortune to perform with many wonderful people and ensembles. These include the Cleveland Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony, Columbus Symphony, Louisville Orchestra, and Fort Wayne Philharmonic. He has served as the bass trombonist with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic since 1996. His teachers include Thomas Klaber, Steven Witser, and Tony Chipurn.

Tuba

Sam Gnagey has been principal tubist with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic since 1970. He is a graduate of the Indiana University School of Music and the Purdue University School of Health Science. His principal tuba teachers were William Bell, Arnold Jacobs and Ron Bishop. He has performed as tubist and/or double bassist with the orchestras of Indianapolis, Evansville, Elkhart, Kokomo, Lafayette, South Bend, Anderson, Richmond, Muncie and Marion in Indiana and Lansing and Flint in Michigan. He has served on the faculties of IPFW, Grace College, Huntington College and Taylor University.

Saxophone

A versatile instrumentalist, Chris French is proficient in clarinet, saxophone, and flute. He received B.M. and M.M. degrees from the Juilliard School. While in New York, he was principal clarinetist of the National Orchestra of New York, and studied with Leon Russianoff, Joe Allard, Charles Russo, and Warne Marsh. After briefly playing with the Orquesta del Estado de Mexico, he returned to Los Angeles and pursued a career as a free-lance woodwind player. His teaching experience includes positions at Pasadena City College, Ventura College, and California Lutheran University. Mr. French performs with the Kalamazoo Symphony, the South Bend Symphony, and for the past five years at the Elkhart Jazz Festival.

String Bass

Robert Martin has served as bassist for the Elkhart Symphony and South Bend Symphony, as well as the Goshen College Orchestra. He was past principal of Lafayette Symphony, Grace College Community Orchestra, Southwestern Michigan College Orchestra, Goshen Community Chorus, Warsaw Community Chorus and the Maple City Chamber Orchestra. He has performed chamber music with the Lafayette Quartet and the Gaska String Quartet. Martin has taught bass in his private studio and at Goshen College for 10 years. He regularly attends summer double bass seminars and is a member of the String Teachers Association and the International Society of Bassists.

Voice

Sandra Hill, coloratura soprano, is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin with a Master of Music degree in vocal performance. Sandra has performed on Wisconsin Public Radio’s Live from the Elvehjem and has appeared in a variety of musical and operatic roles. In 1997 she was chosen as an intern to participate in the National Association of Teachers of Singing Internship Program at Pennsylvania State University. Sandra also directed the Conservatory Choraliers, a children’s choir which performed with a New York touring company in Green Bay, Wisc. in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and at the White House in Washington D.C.

Jeffrey A. Manns is the Director of Music at the First Congregational United Church of Christ in Angola, Indiana, and an adjunct professor of voice at Goshen College. He is Artistic Director of the Fort Wayne Männerchor/ Damenchor, Fort Wayne’s German chorus, founded in 1869 and dedicated to preserving German choral singing in the United States. While maintaining a full-time private voice studio, Jeffrey is also in demand as a soloist and chorister, having sung with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, Muncie and Indianapolis symphonies, Louisville Chamber Ensemble, and St. Louis and Columbus (Georgia) symphony orchestras. Jeffrey lives in Fort Wayne with his wife Rebecca and their two daughters, Savannah and Gabriella.