Musical couples share talents at Community School of the Arts faculty recital
Event: Community School of the Arts Faculty Recital: Jessica Bennett, violin; Brook Bennett, cello; Luke & Mary Rose Norell, piano
Date/Time: Sunday, Oct. 1 2017, 4 p.m.
Location: Sauder Concert Hall
Cost: $8 adults, $6 seniors/students. Online at goshen.edu/tickets or (574) 535-7566. GC faculty/staff/students free with ID.
Four members of the Community School of the Arts music faculty will present a recital of chamber music for violin, cello and piano on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017 in the Goshen College Music Center’s Rieth Recital Hall. The concert will begin at 4 p.m.
Performing are Jessica Bennett, violin; Brook Bennett, cello; Mary Rose Norell, piano; and Luke Norell, piano. All four performers are teachers and faculty members in the Goshen College Community School of the Arts, which offers music instruction to children and adults in Goshen and the surrounding area.
The recital program will include performances of Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Violin Sonata No. 1 in D Major”, Gabriel Fauré’s “Sonata No. 2 for Cello and Piano”, and Felix Mendelssohn’s “Piano Trio No. 2.”
Tickets are $8 adults, $6 seniors/students. General admission tickets are available online at goshen.edu/tickets or by calling the Box Office at (574) 535-7566. Goshen College faculty, staff, and students are free with valid ID.
Jessica Bennett received her violin performance degree from Goshen College, studying with Carolyn Plummer and Renata Knific. Other teachers included Lon Sherer, professor emeritus Goshen College and Aaron Berofsky, University of Michigan. She is a member of the South Bend Symphony orchestra and also plays with Kalamazoo Symphony and Ft. Wayne Philharmonic. Jessica is also a teacher in the Community School of the Arts at Goshen College.
Brook Bennett is principal cellist of the Southwest Michigan Symphony, associate principal cellist of the South Bend Symphony, and assistant principal cellist of the West Michigan Symphony. He has been Suzuki Cello instructor at Goshen College’s Community School of the Arts since 2004, and is also adjunct faculty at the Culver Academies. He holds degrees in cello performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music and State University of New York, Purchase. His teachers and mentors include Jan Simiz, Merry Peckham and Julia Lichten. He resides in Goshen, Indiana with his wife and two children.
Performing at home and abroad, Mary Rose Norell has earned such praise as this from the Chicago Tribune: “Pictures… played live and beautifully by Mary Rose Jordan.” Her concerto engagements include performances with the Northwestern Summer Orchestra, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, and the Elkhart County Symphony Orchestra. Dr. Norell serves as Director and piano faculty at the Goshen College Community School of the Arts. Mary Rose began her studies in Goshen with Marvin Blickenstaff, and continued at Indiana University and Northwestern University, where she received her Doctorate in Piano Performance.
A native of Minnesota, pianist Luke Norell has concertized internationally as soloist and chamber musician. He has appeared with the Southwest Minnesota Orchestra, the Maple City Chamber Orchestra, bass-baritone Njål Sparbo and the Artaria String Quartet. His honors include first prize in the Schubert Club Competition, the Minnesota MTNA Competition, and the Third Biennial Lee Piano Competition. Dr. Norell serves as the Piano Program Director for the Goshen College Community School of the Arts and is also vice president and founding board member of the newly formed Edvard Grieg Society of the Great Lakes, which recently hosted its inaugural conference: “SalzBergen.” www.lukenorell.com