Goshen College students to present ‘Program of Musical Scenes’ during opera workshop

Opera Workshop: “Sondheim and Others: A Program of Musical Scenes”

Date and time: Friday, March 16 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, March 17 at 4 p.m.
Location: Goshen College Music Center’s Rieth Recital Hall

Cost: $7 for adults, $5 for students/seniors, available at the door an hour before the concert

GOSHEN, Ind. – Student members of the Goshen College Opera Workshop will perform scenes from various operas and musicals with piano accompaniment in Goshen College Music Center’s Rieth Recital Hall. There will be two performances: Friday, March 16 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, March 17 at 4 p.m.

The singers will perform scenes from Pergolesi’s opera “La Serva Padrona,” Puccini’s opera “Madama Butterfly,” and the musicals “Into the Woods” and “Sweeney Todd,” by Stephen Sondheim. The scenes will be minimally staged and accompanied by Christine Larson Seitz on piano. The workshop is directed by Goshen College music professors Debra Brubaker and Scott Hochstetler.

Tickets for the performances are $7 adults, $5 seniors/students. Goshen College faculty, staff and students are free with ID. General admission tickets will be available for purchase at the door one hour before each performance; there are no advance ticket sales.

Brubaker is professor of music at Goshen College, where she teaches in the areas of vocal and choral music. She holds a doctor of musical arts degree from the University of Kansas, a master of music degree from the University of Northern Colorado and an undergraduate degree in music from Goshen College. Brubaker was assistant professor of music at Bluffton (Ohio) College for 10 years, and has also taught choir in public schools in Indiana and Colorado. Since coming to Goshen in 1999, Brubaker has directed the Goshen College Chorale and Chamber Choir, and has created the Women’s World Music Choir, which performed in Grand Rapids (Mich.) at the American Choral Director’s Association (ACDA) North Central Regional Convention in February 2008. She and her choirs have collaborated and performed with such noted conductors as Alice Parker, Vance George, Donald Neuen, Gregg Smith and Augusta Read Thomas. A focus of Brubaker’s research and teaching explores how the use of singing can become a catalyst for connection between people of differing cultures, faiths and circumstances, also highlighting the role of women as creators and sustainers of art and culture.

Hochstetler is assistant professor of music at Goshen College, where he teaches in the vocal, choral and opera theater programs. Under his direction, the Goshen College Men’s Chorus was selected to perform for the ACDA regional convention in March 2012. He is also the newly appointed director of the St. Joseph Valley Camerata, an area professional choir. Previous appointments include Western Mennonite School, Salem, Ore., the University of Michigan – Flint, and Corban College, Salem, Ore. As a scholar, his work on Vaughan Williams has been published by The Choral Journal. He is the co-author of the IPA Pronunciation Guide to “Translations and Annotations of Choral Repertoire: German Texts,” published by earthsongs, with a second book on French and Italian diction forthcoming. As a baritone, he has performed opera and oratorio roles and given recitals in Indiana, Michigan and Oregon. Hochstetler holds a doctor of musical arts degree in choral conducting from Michigan State University, a double master of music degree in conducting and voice from the University of Michigan, and an undergraduate degree in music and biology from Goshen College.

Editors: For more information about this release, to arrange an interview or request a photo, contact Goshen College Acting News Bureau Coordinator Alysha Bergey Landis at (574) 535-7762 or alyshabl@goshen.edu.

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Goshen College, established in 1894, is a residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college’s Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron’s Best Buys in Education, “Colleges of Distinction,” “Making a Difference College Guide” and U.S.News & World Report‘s “America’s Best Colleges” edition, which named Goshen a “least debt college.” Visit www.goshen.edu.