Shirley Sprunger King to present Goshen College organ recital March 16

Concert: Organ Recital Series – Shirley Sprunger King
Date and time: Sunday, March 16, 2008 at 4 p.m.
Location: Rieth Recital Hall, Goshen College Music Center
Cost: $7 adults, $5 seniors/students. GC students free with ID.
For more information: Tickets available at the Welcome Center by calling (574) 535-7566.
Web site: www.gcmusiccenter.org

GOSHEN, Ind. – Shirley Sprunger King will perform in the 2007-2008 Organ Recital Series at Goshen College on Sunday, March 16 at 4 p.m. in Rieth Recital Hall. King’s recital will be highlighted by the world premiere of Mennonite composer and 1979 Goshen College alumnus H. Brent Weaver’s “Soliloquy on a Gospel Hymn,” a work that was commissioned by King for this concert. The work is based on F.M. Lehman’s “The Love of God,” a favorite hymn of the composer’s.

The program will also feature Felix Mendelssohn’s “Sonata III,” Op. 65 No. 3 and works by Buxtehude, Bach, Simon Preston and Gaston Litaize.

King received her musical training at Bluffton (Ohio) University, the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati and the University of Kansas, where she earned a doctor of musical arts degree in organ performance. King’s primary organ teachers include Peter Hurford, Roberta Gary and James Higdon. She is director of academic advising and adjunct faculty for organ and harpsichord instruction at Dickinson College, and organist at First Presbyterian Church in Carlisle, Pa. Active in the Midwest as a recitalist, presenter for church music workshops and an organ consultant, King was organist-harpsichordist for the Wichita Symphony for 26 years.

Weaver directs the music theory and composition programs at George Fox University in Newberg, Ore., where he has taught since 2001. A graduate of Goshen College and the University of Oregon, Weaver also composed and conducted his symphony “Witnesses” as part of Goshen College’s centennial celebration in 2005. 

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 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.