A History of the Goshen College Piano Workshop and Academy

The seed for a Goshen College piano workshop was planted in the beginnings of the Goshen College Piano Preparatory Department in the late 1960s. In 1966, associate professor of piano Kathryn Sherer joined forces with John O'Brien who was then teaching in a private studio in Elkhart (In.). Together they set up group lesson activities along with private lessons for 10 young students who were enrolled in the budding program.

Statistics are scarce from those beginning years, but we know that by 1973 there were five teachers registered for a 3 1/2 week pedagogy course and 37 teachers for the five-day workshop. Most of these came from neighboring states, but some came from as far away as Virginia, Montana, and Ontario, Canada. In addition to the teachers, there were 14 students enrolled for the summer. Special guests and clinicians for that year's workshop were Carol Rosenberger, Frances Clark and Louise Goss.

As word of the program spread, there was interest from teachers in outlying areas to come with their students during the summer to learn from the Goshen experience. In the first few years this was done by informal arrangement, but by the summer of 1970, Kathryn Sherer recognized this event as an ongoing annual "piano workshop."

Clinicians and Staff of Past Workshops

Year	Guest Clinicians	Goshen College Staff
1973	Carol Rosenberger Frances Clark Louise Goss	John O’Brien Kathryn Sherer Veronica Roth
1974	Elvina Truman Pearce	John O’Brien Mary K. Oyer
1975	Elvina Truman Pearce	John O’Brien Kathryn Sherer Doyle Preheim Veronica Roth
1976	Marvin Blickenstaff	John O’Brien Kathryn Sherer Philip Clemens
1977	Louise Goss	John O’Brien Kathryn Sherer Bettie M. Norman Veronica Roth
1978	Elvina Truman Pearce	John O’Brien Kathryn Sherer
1979	Joseph Banowetz	Marvin Blickenstaff Celia Weiss Mary K. Oyer
1980	Nelita True	Marvin Blickenstaff Laura Jane Fuller Kathryn Sherer Celia Weiss
1981	Enid Katahn	Marvin Blickenstaff Celia Weiss
1982	Nelita True Sr. Marjorie Delaplane	Marvin Blickenstaff Kathryn Sherer
1983	Eloise Ristad	Marvin Blickenstaff Kathryn Sherer James Goldsworthy
1984	Jane Magrath John Owings	Marvin Blickenstaff
1985	Joan Conway Maurice Hinson	Marvin Blickenstaff Kathryn Sherer
1986	Wolfgang Rubsam Christopher Leuz Mary Jo Schmidt Larry Rast	Marvin Blickenstaff Kathryn Sherer David Mosley
1987	Arthur Becknell Donald Walker	Marvin Blickenstaff Mary Jo Schmidt Douglas Bomberger Mary Louise Hooley
1988	Seymour Bernstein Marion Hall	Kathryn Sherer Mary Jo Schmidt Mary Louise Hooley Lon Sherer
1989	Barbara English Maris James Goldsworthy	Marvin Blickenstaff Kathryn Sherer
1990	Anne Farber Fernando Laires Virgil Smith Karen Taylor	Marvin Blickenstaff Kathryn Sherer Arlene Hinckle
1991	Malcolm Bilson David Breckbill Andrew Trechak Karen Zorn	Marvin Blickenstaff Kathryn Sherer Arlene Hinckle
1992	Nelita True Cathy Albergo Jeffrey Jacob Karen Zorn	Marvin Blickenstaff Kathryn Sherer Arlene Hinckle
1993	Elvina Truman Pearce John O’Brien Sam Holland Karen Zorn	Marvin Blickenstaff Kathryn Sherer Arlene Steffen Chris Thögersen Lon Sherer
1994	Marilyn Neeley Judith Bettina James Goldsworthy Karen Zorn	Marvin Blickenstaff Kathryn Sherer Arlene Steffen
1995	Brian Ganz Douglas Bomberger Karen Zorn	Marvin Blickenstaff Kathryn Sherer Arlene Steffen
1996	Jane Magrath Paul Barnes Karin Edwards Yat-Yee Chong	Marvin Blickenstaff Beverly Lapp Arlene Steffen
1997	Phyllis Lehrer Douglas Bomberger Martha K. Smith	Marvin Blickenstaff Beverly Lapp Kathryn Sherer
1998	Marilyn Neeley Anne Farber Robert Vandall Karen Zorn	Marvin Blickenstaff Beverly Lapp Kathryn Sherer
1999	Robert Duke Catherine Rollin	Marvin Blickenstaff
2000	Nancy and Randall Faber Marilyn Houser Hamm John Owings Karen Zorn Yat-Yee Chong	Marvin Blickenstaff Beverly Lapp David Gross Matthew Hill
2001	Elvina Truman Pearce Douglas Bomberger Paul Sheftel Karen Zorn	Beverly Lapp Matthew Hill
2002	Ena Bronstein Barton Dennis Alexander Pallavi Mahidhara Christopher Wallace Megan Monahan Wallace	Beverly Lapp Matthew Hill
2003	Marvin Blickenstaff Paul Wirth Bette Close Joyce Grill Spencer Myer	Beverly Lapp Matthew Hill
2004	Nelita True Samuel S. Holland Judy Nelson Philip Keveren Jonathan Sokasits	Beverly Lapp Matthew Hill
2005	William Westney Phyllis Lehrer Ena Bronstein Barton Catherine Rollin Liz Seidel The Sherer String Trio	Beverly Lapp Matthew Hill
2006	Paul Wirth Robert Vandall Nancy Bachus Christopher Hepp Jacqueline Herbein Arthur Greene Megan & Christopher Wallace	Matthew Hill Anna Bauer

Contact Us

Piano Workshop

Goshen College

1700 South Main St.

Goshen, IN 46526
(574) 535-7361