Sunflower Trio, Hesston and Bethel College faculty chamber music group, to perform at Goshen College March 18

Concert: Goshen College Organ Recital Series Concert – The Sunflower Trio
Date and time: Saturday, March 18, 2006, 7:30 p.m.
Location: Rieth Recital Hall, Goshen College Music Center
Cost: $8 adults, $5 seniors/students
For more information: For tickets or more information, contact the Goshen College Welcome Center by calling (574) 535-7566 or e-mailing welcomecenter@goshen.edu
Web site: www.sunflowertrio.com

GOSHEN, Ind. – The Sunflower Trio of North Newton, Kan., will conclude a spring tour by performing on March 18 at 7:30 p.m. in the Goshen College Music Center’s Rieth Recital Hall, as part of an organ recital series.

Formed in 2002, the Sunflower Trio is dedicated to the performance of chamber music featuring voice, violin and keyboard. The group’s members – violinist Rebecca Schloneger, tenor Matthew Schloneger and pianist and organist Kenneth Rodgers – excel in a variety of styles. Their eclectic repertoire makes for an experience that reaches a wide range of audiences. This unique ensemble brings an exciting energy to any chamber music.

The Sunflower Trio’s program includes contemporary and traditional classic pieces, along with a composition specifically for them; J. Harold Moyer’s “Songs of the Secret Ear” was written for the trio in 2003. The program also includes selected pieces from renowned composers J. S. Bach and G. F. Handel.

On their latest tour, the trio performed in Ohio at the Ursuline Academy in Cincinnati, First Mennonite Church of Bluffton and Zion Mennonite Church in Archbold.

Matthew Schloneger, a 1994 Goshen College graduate, has been hailed as “superb” by The Wichita Eagle and “impressive” by Cincinnati City Beat. An active performer in oratorio and opera, Schloneger has appeared with Wichita Grand Opera, the Wichita Symphony Orchestra, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Cincinnati Opera, Opera Kansas and Opera Theatre of Lucca (Italy), among others. He recently performed in “L’elisir d’amore” with Operafestival di Roma, “The Mikado” with the Wichita Grand Opera and as a tenor soloist at the Messiah Festival of Music and Art in Lindsborg, Kan. Schloneger serves on the voice faculty of Hesston (Kan.) College and is a resident artist with Wichita Grand Opera.

Rebecca Schloneger is a member of the first violin section of the Wichita Symphony Orchestra and is principal second violin of the Mid-Kansas Symphony. She also serves as a member of the Bethel College Faculty String Quartet. Schloneger has served as concertmaster of the St. Olaf College Orchestra and as principal second violin with the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music Philharmonia Orchestra. She is director of Suzuki violin at Bethel College Academy of Performing Arts in Newton, Kan.

Kenneth Rodgers, a 1987 Goshen College graduate, is collaborative pianist with numerous choirs, quartets and soloists in central Kansas. He is the principal pianist for “On with the Show” and for baritone Anthony Brown, a Goshen College alumnus and Hesston College faculty member. An accomplished organist, Rodgers has performed as a recitalist in the United States and abroad and has played organs across Germany, the Netherlands and England including England’s Canterbury Cathedral. He is currently pursuing a doctorate in organ and church music at the University of Kansas. He is a member of the music faculty at Hesston College.

Tickets for the concert cost $8 for adults and $5 for seniors and students. For tickets or more information, contact the Goshen College Welcome Center by calling (574) 535-7566 or e-mailing welcomecenter@goshen.edu. For more information on the Sunflower Trio, visit www.sunflowertrio.com.

Editors: For more information about this release, to arrange an interview or request a photo, contact Goshen College News Bureau Director Jodi H. Beyeler at (574) 535-7572 or jodihb@goshen.edu.

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Goshen College, established in 1894, is a four-year 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.