Lavender Jazz, GC Flute Choir to perform afternoon Christmas program, Dec. 4

Event: Afternoon Sabbatical – ’Tis the Season to be Jazzy
Date and time: Tuesday, Dec. 4 at 1 p.m.
Location: Goshen College Music Center’s Sauder Concert Hall
Cost: Free and open to the public
For more information: Call College Relations (574) 535-7565 or e-mail edutravel@goshen.edu.

GOSHEN, Ind. – Lavender Jazz, Goshen College’s Big Band directed by Sonny Carreño, and the newly formed Goshen College Flute Choir, directed by Rebecca Hovan, will perform together at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 4 (previously scheduled for Dec. 11) in the Music Center’s Sauder Concert Hall as part of this year’s Afternoon Sabbatical Series.

The ensembles are made up of GC students and musicians from the community who practice together throughout the year. The concert will feature a few seasonal tunes, but “it’s going to be more than just Christmas music,” Carreño said.

The first half of the program will give exposure to the new flute choir, who are “amazing,” Carreño said. The choir was formed just last year when Hovan began at GC. Hovan teaches at the Music Center’s Community School of the Arts and gives flute lessons to college students both at GC and Indiana University-South Bend.

After the flute choir, Lavender Jazz will take the stage and play, “the highlights and crowd-pleasers from the fall concert.” The fall concert took place Nov. 10 and featured one song from each era of jazz, including, swing, bebop and Latin.“And we will combine for one or two final numbers with both ensembles,” said Carreño.

“There will be lots of variety,” he said. “We want to see the place packed.”

Future events in the 2007-08 Afternoon Sabbatical series:

• Feb. 12, 1 p.m., Sauder Concert Hall, “Boundaries and Bridges: Do Denominations Have a Future?” with John D. Roth, professor of history.
• March 11, 1 p.m., “Men Making Music” with Goshen College Men’s Chorus and Ensembles.
• April 15, noon, College Mennonite Church Fellowship Hall, “International Luncheon: Cambodia” with Keith Graber Miller, professor of Bible, religion and philosophy and his wife Ann with whom he led the first SST unit to Cambodia. Cost: $20
• May 20 – Spring bus trip to South Bend, Ind.

The Goshen College Afternoon Sabbatical is celebrating its 30th anniversary season of offering programs for the community. A committee of area representatives and college personnel consider the knowledge and talent at Goshen College and among Elkhart County citizens and aim to select programs that will appeal to a wide variety of interests. The program began and continues from the idea that people can use a sabbatical from their daily lives to refresh their minds and spirits.

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

– Kelli Yoder

Editors: For more information about this release or to arrange an interview, 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.