Goshen College Christmas concert, ‘A Festival of Carols,’ to be aired on WNIT Dec. 24

GOSHEN, Ind. – Anyone who missed Goshen College’s third annual “A Festival of Carols” concert earlier this holiday season should not despair. Michiana residents can see a broadcast of the concert on WNIT, the local public television station (channel 34, cable channel 10), on Sunday, Dec. 24 at 7 p.m.

The broadcast was filmed and produced by a crew of 10 Goshen College students, under the direction of Associate Professor of Communication Ron Johnson and Music Center Recording Specialist Matthias Stegmann, who worked behind the eight cameras, operated the sound and edited the final cut. In addition, faculty and staff from the college’s ITSMedia Department and Music Center also were instrumental in the production during live concerts on Dec. 1 and 2.

“Our goal this year with more cameras was to record more of the motion and emotion of the music as presented in the festive setting of Sauder Concert Hall and as reflected in the faces of the musicians,” said Johnson. “This required more difficult close-up camera work by our students.”

“A Festival of Carols” was aired for the first time in 2005 on WNIT. “This year’s broadcast production team was made up of several students from last year’s broadcast who asked, ‘When will we be doing festival this year?’ said Johnson. “My hope is that our holiday broadcast of ‘A Festival of Carols’ becomes a tradition for our students and the Michiana audience. We hope that the audience finds the program a meaningful part of their Christmas Eve.”

People who tune in to the WNIT broadcast of the concert on Dec. 24 can expect to see and hear a delightful program featuring Christmas favorites performed by the Goshen College Chorale, Chamber Choir, Men’s Chorus, Women’s World Music Choir and Orchestra all in Sauder Concert Hall, which was festively decorated with garlands, lights and trees. Shout For Joy, a Community School of the Arts children’s choir, also performs, as well as several Goshen College Music Department faculty members. The concert also included ample opportunity for audience participation and singing.

The program features arrangements of several traditional Christmas carols, as well as Scripture readings and works by Benjamin Britten, Franz Schubert, Felix Mendelssohn and Goshen College Assistant Professor of Music and Composer Lee Dengler.

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.