Friday, December 21, 2007
GC Christmas concert, ‘A Festival of Carols,’ to be aired on public television Dec. 25; Show filmed and edited by twelve students in twelve days
Michiana residents can see a broadcast of the concert on WNIT, the local public television station, on Christmas Day, Tuesday, Dec. 25 at 5 p.m. Residents around Indianapolis can also see the broadcast on Christmas Day at 3 p.m. on the public television station, WFYI. And the production of a DVD for sale of “A Festival of Carols” 2007 is in the works, though it won’t be ready for Christmas (call the Music Center Office at 574-535-7361 to put your name on an interested list).
The broadcast was filmed and recorded in high-definition by a crew of 12 students, under the direction of Associate Professor of Communication Ron Johnson and Music Center Recording Specialist Matthias Stegmann, who worked behind new high-definition 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 Nov. 30 and Dec. 1.
“A Festival of Carols” was aired for the first time in 2005 on WNIT; this is the first year it will be showed on Indianapolis’s public television station, WFYI. “This puts a new twist on the 12 days of Christmas for me. It has been the effort of 12 students in 12 days working on one Christmas special.” said Johnson. “My hope is that our holiday broadcast of ‘A Festival of Carols’ becomes a tradition for our students and Hoosiers. We hope that the audience finds the program a meaningful part of their Christmas Day.”
Doug Hallman, a sophomore communication and theater double major from Lancaster, Pa., was one of the students who helped film and edit this production. “Something of this magnitude done almost all by college students is heading in uncharted territory,” he said. “I am extremely proud of the show we have produced in such a short period of time.”
People who tune in to the public television broadcasts of the concert on Dec. 25 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 program features arrangements of several traditional Christmas carols, as well as Scripture readings and works by by Handel, Vaughan Williams, Halsey Stevens, Mack Willberg and James Clemens.
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 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.