High school students join Goshen College choirs for Oct. 9 concert

Concert: Venus & Mars Choral Festival Concert
Date and time: Saturday, Oct. 9 at 7:30 p.m.
Location: Sauder Concert Hall, Goshen College Music Center
Cost: $3, all seats. General admission. Available at the door one hour before the start of the concert. GC students free with ID.

GOSHEN, Ind. – Nearly 50 high school choir students from Indiana and Ohio will join two Goshen College choirs in the second annual Goshen College Venus & Mars Choral Festival, concluding with a public concert on Saturday, Oct. 9 at 7:30 p.m. in the Music Center's Sauder Concert Hall.

Students from Goshen High School, Fairfield High School, Bethany Christian Schools, Concord High School and Pettisville (Ohio) High School will join the Goshen College Men's Chorus and Women's World Music Choir in workshops, rehearsals and an evening concert.

The Venus & Mars Choral Festival is an opportunity for talented high school choral singers to experience singing in "gendered" choral ensembles – ensembles made up of all men or all women. While on campus, the singers will participate in rehearsals and voice-building activities with GC choral directors Dr. Debra Brubaker and Dr. Scott Hochstetler.

Tickets to the evening concert are $3 for general admission seating, available at the door one hour before the concert.

The goals of the Goshen College Women's World Music Choir, formed by Brubaker in 2004, are to discover and perform music of many cultures, both national and international, and to highlight the role of women in these cultures, celebrating the unique spirit and energy that women bring to the world as creators and sustainers of life and culture. The choir has performed music from India, Mexico, the Philippines, Ireland, South Africa, Swaziland, Guatemala, Pakistan, the Republic of Georgia, Ukraine, Czech Republic and many other countries and cultures.

Brubaker is professor of music at Goshen College, where she teaches in the voice, choral and opera theater programs, teaches church music courses and serves as department co-chair. She holds a doctor of musical arts degree from the University of Kansas.

The Goshen College Men's Chorus, founded in January of 2004, follows in the long tradition of GC male singing groups beginning with the men's glee clubs and the Rambler Quartet of the early 1900s. Formed by the combined male voices of the Chorale and Chamber Choir, the Men's Chorus performs music from all genres and time periods with special emphasis on sacred a cappella literature.

Hochstetler is assistant professor of music at Goshen College, where he directs Chorale and Men's Chorus and teaches applied voice and conducting. He holds a doctor of musical arts degree in choral conducting from Michigan State University, a double master of music in conducting and voice from the University of Michigan, a master's degree in teaching from Western Oregon University and a bachelor's 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 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.