Celebrate the season with “A Baroque and Renaissance Christmas” at the Goshen College Afternoon Sabbatical Series on Dec. 5

GOSHEN, Ind. – When asked to form a performance ensemble for the Goshen College Afternoon Sabbatical Series, Rosalyn Troiano knew who to ask.

Troiano, the Suzuki Strings Director for the Goshen College Community School of the Arts, assembled what she calls her “dream baroque ensemble,” including soprano Danielle Svonavec; Amos Burkholder, recorder; Mary Anne Ballard, viola da gamba; violist Troiano and Kathryn Sherer, harpsichord. They will perform the cantata, “O che nuovo stupor” by Francesca Caccini, as well as Renaissance settings of traditional Lutheran Chorales on Dec. 5. The performance will begin at 1 p.m. in Sauder Concert Hall.

“O che nuovo stupor” translates to “O what new astonishment,” and tells the Christmas story of the shepherds reaction to the birth of Jesus. Besides the music, it is believed that Caccini also wrote the words in her only holiday piece. “It’s a really beautiful poem,” said Troiano.

This performance will be the ensemble’s debut together. But if all goes well, Troiano hopes to keep the ensemble going and pursue other arrangements of baroque music.

The group has extensive expertise in baroque music performance. Troiano recently studied at the Baroque Performance Institute at the Oberlin Conservatory, where Ballard is on faculty. Ballard is also a member of the Baltimore Consort, one of America’s favorite early music ensembles that has performed twice on the Goshen College Performing Arts Series. Burkholder is a retired Goshen College professor of music who, during his tenure at the college, created the Early Music Consort. Svonavec, a professional soloist who specializes in early music, also teaches voice at the University of Notre Dame and tours with Baltimore Consort as guest artist. Sherer is an associate professor emerita of music at Goshen who has participated in baroque workshops across the United States and England.

Francesca Caccini is one of the most famous European female composers, as well as one of the most acclaimed sopranos of her time. During the 17^th century she was the highest paid composer in the Medici Court and was the first woman to compose an opera.

Future lectures in the Afternoon Sabbatical series:

·    There is no program in January

·    Feb. 13, 1 p.m., Sauder Concert Hall, “Hand-Me-Down Songs: The Power of Melody,” with Jim Heiks, associate professor of music

·    March 6, 1 p.m., Sauder Concert Hall, “Imagining the Serengeti: Landscape Memory as History in Tanzania,” with Jan Bender Shetler, associate professor of history

·    April 10, 1 p.m., Sauder Concert Hall, “International Luncheon: Senegal” with Gwen Miller, assistant professor of art and co-leader Suella Lehman Gerber. Cost: $20

·    May 16, Chicago bus trip to see “The Color Purple.” Cost: $110.

Goshen College’s Afternoon Sabbatical program is in its 30th year of offering rich diversity in programs for the community. A committee of area representatives and college personnel look to the wealth of knowledge and talent at Goshen College and among Elkhart County citizens and selects programs that will appeal to a wide variety of interests. Programs have an integral connection to the college, either through subject matter or in ways in which the campus and community are interrelated.

For more information on the Afternoon Sabbatical series call the Goshen College Relations Office at (574) 535-7565 or e-mail edutravel@goshen.edu.

– by Megan Blank

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.