Seven student musicians featured in 54th Concerto-Aria concert

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Student performers for the 54th annual Concerto-Aria concert include (L-R) Katie Miller, Rachel Mast, Micah Detweiler, Jorge Abreu Toyens, Sam Smucker, Brody Thomas and Benjamin Ganger.

Concert:  54th annual Concerto-Aria concert
Date and time: Saturday, Feb. 8, 2014, 7:30 p.m.
Location: Music Center’s Sauder Concert Hall
Cost: $10 adults, $7 seniors/students. Available via the Goshen College Welcome Center – (574) 535-7566, or online at goshen.edu/tickets. Goshen College faculty/staff/students are free with ID.

Seven student winners of the 2013-2014 Goshen College Concerto-Aria competition will perform arias and individual concerto movements with the Goshen College Symphony Orchestra, directed by Dr. Christopher Fashun, in the 54th annual Concerto-Aria concert on Saturday, Feb. 8. The concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Music Center’s Sauder Concert Hall.

Student performers include:

  • Micah Detweiler, marimba – performing Concerto No. 1 for Marimba and Orchestra (mvts. 2 & 4) by Ney Rosauro. Detweiler is a senior music major from Wakarusa, Ind.
  • Benjamin Ganger, baritone – performing “Ach, wir armen Leute” from Hänsel und Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck. Ganger is a sophomore music major from Goshen.
  • Rachel Mast, mezzo soprano and Katie Miller, soprano – performing Deh! conte Mira, o Norma by Vincenzo Bellini. Mast is a senior music major from Corvallis, Ore., and Miller is a senior music major from Goshen.
  • Brody Thomas, piano – performing Concerto No. 21 in C Major, K. 467 (mvt. 1) by W.A. Mozart. Thomas is a junior music major from Springs, Pa.
  • Jorge Abreu Toyens, violin and Sam Smucker, violin – performing Concerto for Two Violins in A minor, Op. 3 No. 8 (mvts. 2 & 3) by Antonio Vivaldi. Abreu Toyens is a junior music major from Las Piedras, Puerto Rico, and Smucker is a senior music major from North Newton, Kan.

The Goshen College Symphony Orchestra will also perform Carmen Suite No. 1 by Georges Bizet and “Intermezzo” from Karelia Suite, Op. 11 by Jean Sibelius.

Tickets are $10 adults, $7 seniors/students. General admission tickets are available by calling the Goshen College Welcome Center at (574) 535-7566 or online at www.goshen.edu/tickets.

Christopher H. Fashun, DMA, is an assistant professor of music at Goshen College, where he conducts the Symphony Orchestra, directs the Lavender Jazz Ensemble, oversees the music education program, frequently conducts the orchestras for musicals and opera, and teaches applied percussion. Dr. Fashun holds a Bachelor of Music degree in music education from Saint Olaf College in Northfield (Minn.) and received his Master of Music degree in percussion performance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Iowa, where he studied conducting with William LaRue Jones and viola with Christine Rutledge.