Concert: Goshen College Choirs present “EARTHTONES: Songs from Many Cultures”
Date and time: Saturday, April 13 at 7:30 p.m.
Location: Goshen College Music Center’s Sauder Concert Hall
Cost: $7 for adults, $5 for students/seniors, available through the Welcome Center by calling (574) 535-7566, emailing welcomecenter@goshen.edu or online.

GC faculty/staff/students free with ID.

Singing music from multiple regions of the world, the Goshen Choirs will again explore the large palette of sounds available to the human voice in the ninth annual EARTHTONES choral concert on Saturday, April 13 at 7:30 p.m. in Goshen College Music Center’s Sauder Concert Hall.

Performing will be the Goshen College Chorale, Chamber Choir, Men’s Chorus and Women’s World Music Choir. Subtitled “Songs from Many Cultures,” the EARTHTONES program will feature choral works from a wide variety of composers, cultures and countries, including the African-American spiritual tradition, First Nation chant from Canada, Haiti, India, Venezuela, South Africa, Northern Ireland, Finland and an arrangement of a Balinese Monkey Chant. The program will also feature an original composition by GC student composer Levi Smucker, sung in Arabic. The choirs will perform individually and as a joint chorus. During the concert, the choirs will also recognize graduating senior choir members.

Drawing from powerful melodies of almost every continent, EARTHTONES promises to provide a concert of vitality and tone color in a celebration of World Music.

The Goshen College choirs are directed by choral professors Dr. Debra Brubaker and Dr. Scott Hochstetler, and are accompanied by pianists Christine Larson Seitz and Chara Sonntag.

Brubaker, DMA, 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. 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 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. Brubaker was assistant professor of music at Bluffton College (Ohio) for ten years, and has also taught choir in public schools in Indiana and Colorado. 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, DMA, 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 has been selected to perform for the ACDA regional convention in March 2012. He is also the director of the St. Joseph Valley Camerata, an area professional choir. Previous appointments include Western Mennonite School (Ore.), the University of Michigan – Flint, and Corban College (Ore.). As a scholar, his work on Vaughan Williams has been published by The Choral Journal, and he is the co-author of the IPA Pronunciation Guide to Translations and Annotations of Choral Repertoire, German Texts. 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 a bachelor’s degree in music and biology from Goshen College.

General admission tickets are $7 adults, $5 seniors/students, available online at www.goshen.edu/tickets or via the Goshen College Welcome Center at (574) 535-7566. Goshen College faculty, staff, and students are free with valid ID.

]]> http://www.goshen.edu/news/2013/04/03/goshen-college-choirs-celebrate-world-music-with-annual-earthtones-concert-2/feed/ 0 http://www.goshen.edu/news/2013/01/14/chicago-based-spektral-quartet-coming-to-goshen-jan-18/ http://www.goshen.edu/news/2013/01/14/chicago-based-spektral-quartet-coming-to-goshen-jan-18/#comments Mon, 14 Jan 2013 14:29:43 +0000 brianas http://www.goshen.edu/news/?p=6406 Visiting Artist Recital: The Spektral Quartet
Date and time: Friday, January 18 at 7:30 p.m.
Location: Goshen College Music Center’s Rieth Recital Hall
Cost: $7 adults, $5 seniors/students. Admission to this concert is FREE to all students. Tickets available one hour before the concert.

The Spektral Quartet, one of the nation’s fastest-rising young string quartets and the ensemble-in-residence at the University of Chicago, returns to Goshen College Music Center on Friday, Jan. 18 for a program of quartets by Mozart, Verdi and Hugo Wolf in Rieth Recital Hall at 7:30 p.m.

Spektral violinist Austin Wulliman, a Goshen native, received musical training as a youth in the Goshen College Strings Preparatory Program, a forerunner of what is now the Community School of the Arts.

With its innovative programming consistently filling venues with a “crowd that other classical presenters would kill to attract” (Chicago Classical Review), the Spektral Quartet has established itself as one of Chicago’s most intrepid and adroit ensembles. With a priority on evaporating the perceived boundary between traditional masterworks and the music of the present, Spektral concerts feature the likes of Beethoven and Mozart alongside Carter and Adés.

Hailed by Time Out Chicago as having “forged a reputation for fiercely on-point performances as well as some of the city’s most imaginative chamber programming,” the Spektral Quartet continues to close the distance between performer and audience member. As bold advocates for Chicago’s dynamic new music scene, Spektral recently produced Break Right Through That Line, a concert featuring works by Northwestern University faculty composers and their protégés.

Sharing personal insights and often-humorous rehearsal anecdotes from the stage are a hallmark of Spektral’s traditional-format concerts. Rather than focusing on the facts and figures commonly found in program notes, this interaction offers audiences a more intimate concert-going experience through the imaginative narratives and aural cues delivered by the quartet. The Spektral Quartet is equally committed to training the next generation of chamber musicians, and as pedagogues, are in demand in the academic arena, having been invited by Northwestern University, Illinois State University and The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to perform, present workshops and lead masterclasses. The Spektral Quartet was appointed ensemble-in-residence at The University of Chicago in the 2012/2013 season.

The quartet’s Friday concert and Saturday coachings of young musicians in the Music Center’s Youth Honors Orchestras are presented in part through the Lon and Kathryn Sherer Preparatory Music Endowment, honoring the Sherer’s combined 60 years of teaching music at Goshen College.

Emmylou Harris will perform at Goshen College

Performing Arts Series Concert: Emmylou Harris
Date and time: Saturday, Jan. 12 at 7:30 p.m.
Location: Goshen College Music Center’s Sauder Concert Hall
Cost: $55, $50, $40 (sold out)
For more information: Call (574) 535-7566 or e-mail welcomecenter@goshen.edu
Website: www.emmylouharris.com

The 12-time Grammy Award winner Emmylou Harris will come for the first time to Goshen College to perform a Performing Arts Series concert on Saturday, Jan. 12 at 7:30 p.m. in the Music Center’s Sauder Concert Hall.

Harris has gained admiration as much for her eloquently straightforward songwriting as for her incomparably expressive singing. Few in pop or country music have achieved such honesty or revealed such maturity in their writing. Four decades into her career, Harris continues to awe audiences with her crystalline voice, remarkable gift for phrasing and restless creative spirit.

Tickets are sold out, but occasionally regular seat tickets ($55, $50, $40) are returned to the Music Center box office the night of the concert and would be available an hour before the concert (first come, first serve). For more information, contact the Goshen College Welcome Center by calling (574) 535-7566 or e-mailing welcomecenter@goshen.edu.

Seating for those with disabilities is available and the minimum age of attendees is 5 years old. Tickets are nonrefundable.

The Goshen College Performing Arts Series debuted on Sept. 21, 1997. Since then, the college has hosted more than 100 concerts by some of the world’s greatest performers as part of the program.

Doyle Armbrust, Austin Wulliman, Aurelien Fort Pederzoli and Russell Rolen make up the Spektral Quartet.

Visiting Artist Recital: The Spektral Quartet
Date and time: Friday, January 18 at 7:30 p.m.
Location: Goshen College Music Center’s Rieth Recital Hall
Cost: $7 adults, $5 seniors/students. GC faculty/staff/students free with ID. Tickets available one hour before the concert.

The Spektral Quartet, one of the nation’s fastest-rising young string quartets and the ensemble-in-residence at the University of Chicago, returns to Goshen College Music Center on Friday, January 18 at 7:30 p.m. for a program of quartets by Mozart, Verdi and Hugo Wolf in Rieth Recital Hall.

Spektral violinist Austin Wulliman, a Goshen native, received musical training as a youth in the Goshen College Strings Preparatory Program, a progenitor of what is now the Community School of the Arts. He also attended Goshen College before receiving degrees from Northwestern University and the University of Michigan.

Spektral’s Friday concert and Saturday coachings of young musicians in the Music Center’s Youth Honors Orchestras are presented in part through the Lon and Kathryn Sherer Preparatory Music Endowment. It carries on the legacy established through their more than 60 combined years of teaching music, most of them at Goshen College. In addition to college teaching, Lon and Kathryn taught hundreds of pre-college students; Lon in violin and Kathryn in piano. Throughout their careers, they were advocates for making music accessible to young people. The activities of this endowment will continue to support their interests of accessibility and excellence in pedagogy in the life of the Goshen College Community School of the Arts.

Lon Sherer and Kathryn Summers met as college students at Michigan State University in the early 1950’s. Throughout their marriage, their music-making was a shared life work, first at Woodstock School in Mussoorie, India (1956-59) and then at Goshen College (1959 onward). In the early 1960’s Lon earned his Doctorate in Music Performance from the University of Michigan. Kathryn earned her Masters in piano performance from Southern Methodist University in 1979.

Lon and Kathryn arrived at Goshen College at a time when interest in instrumental music was beginning to expand at the college and more generally in the Mennonite Church. Their energy and creativity helped raise music-making at Goshen College to new heights and spurred programmatic innovations. Lon built up the college orchestra, expanded the WGCS classical music collection, brought recorders, early music and opera to the college, and started high school music week. Kathryn, along with John T. O’Brien, launched the piano pedagogy program and the annual piano workshop. In 1979 Lon studied with Shinichi Suzuki and later founded the GC string preparatory program, incorporating the tenets of the Suzuki method into his teaching of children and youth from the community.

In addition to their lives as performers, as teachers Lon and Kathryn gave uncommon attention to the learning process and how students achieve mastery of their chosen instruments. During their careers, they studied and worked with master teachers such as Frances Clark, Kato Havas, George Sebok, John Owings and Shinichi Suzuki, ultimately becoming master teachers in their own right.

Lon continues to connect in various ways to the musical life of the Goshen community. Kathryn died this past February from pulmonary fibrosis. Their life-long interests in seeing musicianship developed to a high level in young students, and in promoting excellence in ensemble music-making will be honored in these events.

Music Together® instructor Tracy Weirich leads children in an activity during a recent music class in Elkhart.

The Goshen College Music Center is offering a new term of Music Together® classes in various locations in Elkhart and Goshen beginning in early January 2013 in an effort to bring the joy of singing and music learning to children.

Music Together® is a research-based method for developing basic music competence in children. It accomplishes this through singing and movement to songs and chants, drawing on a wide variety of cultures and styles. In Music Together®, children attend a weekly 45-minute class with a parent, grandparent or other caregiver, and receive a songbook and professional CD for home listening. Classes are taught by a trained professional and take place in various locations throughout Elkhart County.

Music Together® classes will be held at the following locations in Elkhart County beginning the week of Jan. 7, 2013:

• Greencroft Retirement Center, Evergreen Place (Goshen)
• Goshen College Music Center (Goshen)
• LifeCenter/First United Methodist Church (Goshen)
• Chamberlain Elementary School (Goshen)
• Waterford Crossing Senior Village (Goshen)
• Prairie Street Mennonite Church (Elkhart)

Tuition for the ten-week course is $150 for the first child. Siblings may attend for an additional $20 per child. Included are a new songbook and CD and all class sessions. Patrons are encouraged to register as soon as possible to ensure enrollment in your preferred class.

Need-based scholarships are available to any family whose income qualifies them for free or reduced lunch in the Federal Free or Reduced Lunch program. The Music Center is committed to making this program available to every family who would like to participate.

To register, or for additional information, including specific class schedules and locations, please contact the Music Center Office at (574) 535-7361 or visit the GC Music Center website.

Afternoon Sabbatical: Pre-Christmas Celebration with family duo David Machavariani, cello adjunct faculty at GC, and Ketevan Badridze, piano faculty at Indiana University South Bend

Date and time: Tuesday, Dec. 11 at 1 p.m.

Location: Goshen College Music Center’s Sauder Concert Hall

Cost: Free and open to the public

Formerly from the Republic of Georgia, husband and wife musical duo David Machavariani and Ketevan Badridze will perform great music of German and Russian major composers, including sonatas by Richard Strauss and Dmitry Shostakovich, for Goshen College’s December Afternoon Sabbatical. The free pre-Christmas concert will take place on Tuesday, Dec. 11 at 1 p.m. in the Goshen College Music Center’s Sauder Concert Hall. It is open to the public.

Machavariani teaches cello at Goshen College and Badridze is on the piano faculty at Indiana University South Bend.

Machavariani was born in Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia. His official musical training started at the age of 8 in a special music school for gifted children. He debuted at the age of 14 with the Georgian National Symphony, performing Haydn’s Concerto in C major. He continued his studies at the Tbilisi State Conservatory under the tutelage of Eldar Isakadze and Tamara Gabarashvili (both pupils of Mstislav Rostropovich), and earned his master’s degree with highest distinction. During these years, Machavariani played numerous recitals as a soloist and chamber musician and won first prize at the Transcaucasian chamber music competition.

After graduation, Machavariani was a part of the cello faculty at Surami (Republic of Georgia) from 1985-88. At the same time he was working on his post-graduate diploma at the Tbilisi State Conservatory and earned his degree with highest distinction in 1989. The same year he was invited to become a part of the cello faculty at central music school for gifted children. During 1990-92, he was a part of the cello faculty in Tbilisi State Conservatory.

In 1992, by invitation of Indiana University South Bend, Machavariani came to the United States and earned his master’s degree and artist diploma. He also studied at University of Notre Dame with Karen Buranskas. As a soloist he played many times with a Georgian National Symphony, Georgian Radio and TV Orchestra, IUSB Philharmonic and Elkhart Symphony Orchestra. He successfully has toured in Georgia, Russia and Ukraine. He was member of Georgian Chamber Orchestra under Liana Isakadze touring in Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Hungary, West Germany and Austria. He was principal cello in the Elkhart Symphony Orchestra and Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra in St. Joseph, Mich. Currently Machavariani is a member of South Bend Symphony Orchestra and Columbia (Mo.) Festival Chamber Orchestra, also member of Endless Mountain Music Festival Orchestra in Wellsboro (Pa.).

In 2001, Machavariani began serving as an adjunct faculty at Goshen College, and since 2006 he is adjunct instructor in music at Valparaiso University. From 2002-04, he has served in this capacity at Indiana University South Bend.

Badridze was born in Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia. She began piano studies at the Georgian Special Music School and continued her studies at the Tbilisi State Conservatory. In 1993, upon completion of her postgraduate degree, she was appointed to the piano faculty.

Since her first performance on stage with an orchestra at the age of 12, Ketevan has appeared with the Tbilisi Symphony and Chamber Orchestra, the Erevan Philharmonic Orchestra and BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra. She was a frequent performer of solo and chamber music in Georgia, France, Belgium, Austria, Italy and Germany.

In 2000 she moved to the United States to study with Professor Alexander Toradze, and has appeared with the Toradze Piano Studio at the numerous music venues both in Europe and the United States. She has also been a major prizewinner of numerous international piano competitions.

Goshen College will present its ninth annual musical celebration of Christmas, “A Festival of Carols,” on Friday, Dec. 7 and Saturday, Dec. 8 at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Dec. 9 at 4 p.m. This special celebration of the holiday season will feature five choirs and orchestra, along with audience participation on traditional carols, all in a concert hall festively decorated with garlands, lights and trees.

“A Festival of Carols” is patterned on a traditional English worship service, and features Christmas carols, spirituals, Scripture readings and works by David Willcocks, J.S. Bach, Benjamin Britten, Vaclav Nelhybel, Sergei Rachmaninoff and more. Performers include the Goshen College Chorale, Chamber Choir, Men’s Chorus, Women’s World Music Choir, the Goshen College Orchestra and the Shout For Joy Children’s Choir. The audience will also be invited to join the choirs to sing familiar carols during the performance.

Goshen College Choirs are directed by Dr. Debra D. Brubaker and Dr. Scott Hochstetler, and the Goshen College Symphony Orchestra is directed by Dr. Christopher Fashun. Shout for Joy Children’s Choir is directed by Sandy Hill. A flute trio that includes Goshen College and Community School of the Arts flute instructor Rebecca Hovan will perform pre-concert music in the Music Center lobby before each performance.

A limited number of reserved seating tickets are available for $15 by calling the Goshen College Welcome Center at (574) 535-7566, emailing welcomecenter@goshen.edu or visiting www.goshen.edu/tickets. Patrons are strongly encouraged to purchase their tickets in advance; tickets presently available only for Friday and Sunday concerts.

This special celebration of the holiday season will feature student ensembles, along with audience participation on traditional carols, all in a concert hall festively decorated with garlands, lights and trees.

Reserved seating tickets are $15. They can be purchased by visiting www.goshen.edu/tickets or calling the Goshen College Welcome Center at (574) 535-7566 or emailing welcomecenter@goshen.edu. Patrons are strongly encouraged to purchase tickets in advance.

The Del McCoury Band will return to Goshen College on Saturday, Nov. 3

The much-loved bluegrass of the Del McCoury Band will return to Goshen College for a Performing Arts Series concert on Saturday, Nov. 3 at 7:30 p.m. in the Music Center’s Sauder Concert Hall.

Since he was last here in 2004, Del McCoury has received a National Heritage Fellowship lifetime achievement award and was elected into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame, honoring his 50-plus years making music. Del McCoury and his faithful band demonstrate that bluegrass isn’t just for those with an acquired taste; it’s about presence, passion and the musical marriage of sound old and new.

A 15 percent special discount off the regular price is being offered for tickets bought in-person or on the phone. To receive the special discount, mention the promo code “PAS.” Non-discount tickets cost $40, $35, $25. Tickets are available through the Goshen College Welcome Center by calling (574) 535-7566 or e-mailing welcomecenter@goshen.edu. Non-discounted tickets are also available online at www.goshen.edu/tickets.

Seating for those with disabilities is available and the minimum age of attendees is 5 years old. Tickets are nonrefundable.

The Goshen College Performing Arts Series debuted on Sept. 21, 1997. Since then, the college has hosted more than 100 concerts by some of the world’s greatest performers as part of the program.

Goshen College Symphony Orchestra

The Goshen College Symphony Orchestra (GCSO), conducted by Assistant Professor of Music Dr. Christopher Fashun, will present their fall concert in the Music Center’s Sauder Concert Hall on Friday, Nov. 2 at 7:30 p.m.

The program will be highlighted by a performance of W.A. Mozart’s Litaniae Lauretanae K. 109, featuring the Goshen College Chorale, directed by Associate Professor of Music Dr. Scott Hochstetler. The GCSO will also perform Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op. 68 (“Pastoral”), and works by Anatoly Lyandov and Franz von Suppé.

Tickets cost $7 for adults, $5 seniors/students, available at the door one hour before the concert. Goshen College faculty/staff/students are free with valid ID.

Fashun, DMA, also directs the Lavender Jazz Ensemble, oversees the music education program, conducts the orchestras for musicals and opera and teaches applied percussion. In 2011, he became the music director of the Elkhart County Honors Youth Orchestra where he has the opportunity to work with talented high school musicians throughout Elkhart County. Dr. Fashun holds a bachelor’s degree in music education from Saint Olaf College in Northfield, Minn., and received his Master of Music degree in percussion performance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Iowa where he studied conducting with William LaRue Jones and viola with Christine Rutledge.