On Saturday, Jan. 20, the Goshen College Community School of the Arts (CSA) held its first student recital of 2018 in the Rieth Recital Hall of the Goshen College Music Center. Led by director and piano faculty Mary Rose Norell, the Community School of the Arts is an extension of the Music Center and offers a variety of learning opportunities for aspiring musicians of all ages.

“I’m thankful that the CSA can offer both young and adult members of our community the opportunity to experience this type of mentorship in the musical arts, which helps develop the whole person physically, intellectually and emotionally,” said Norell.

The Community School of the arts offers both group and private lessons for a variety of instruments including piano, viola and cello. There are currently nine Goshen College students serving as private teachers and ensemble assistants for the CSA program.

The CSA program is a vital part of GC and the greater Goshen community, according to Norell.

“For many of our CSA students, Goshen College is the first college campus that they will step foot on,” said Norell.

As a region leader in musical training, Norell said the CSA program furthers the Music Center’s mission of “offering a phenomenal facility filled with the pursuit of academic and artistic excellence, which provides a wonderful atmosphere for our CSA students to begin their artistic education.”

The recitals, held at various points during the year, are an opportunity for the CSA students to showcase the progression of their musical talents.

12 students performed in Saturday’s recital. Several of those students are also preparing for upcoming Indiana State School Music Association (ISSMA) competitions. At the ISSMA competitions, they will take the skills they have honed during their time in the CSA program and compete against fellow student musicians from across the state.

The first performance of the afternoon featured Mary Madison, cello student, and Brook Bennett, a faculty member, performing two classical selections: “Andantino” by Shinichi Suzuki followed by Henry Purcell’s “Rigadoon.”

Following Madison and Bennett was Julia Koch, a violin student. Provided with accompaniment by Luke Norell, piano faculty member, Koch decided to showcase her talents by performing “Masurka” by Emil Mlynarkski.

Performing “I. Largo” from “Concerto for Viola in G Major” by Georg Philipp Telemann, Tinsley Yoder, a viola student, took the stage accompanied on piano by Patsy Sherer. Also performing a selection from Telemann’s “Concerto for Viola in G Major,” viola student Anton Pham played “IV. Presto” with accompaniment by pianist Lisa Spry.

Emma Koch, a violin student, performed “Polish Dance” by Edmund Severn with accompaniment by Luke Norell.

In the first solo performance of the recital, piano student Will Zou performed “Bell-Ringing, Op, 54, No. 6” by Evarg Greig. Following Zou was Elsa Lund who played Claude Debussy’s “Dr. Gradus ad Parnassum” on piano. The last of the solo performances featured Ana Yoder, a piano student, with a rendition of “Prelude No. 4 in E Minor” by Fryderyk Chopin.

Luke Norell took the stage again to provide piano for violin student Catherine Madison’s performance of “I. Allegro” from “Concerto No. 3 for Violin in G Major” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Caroline Madison, a cello student, played “I. Moderato” from “Concerto No. 1 for Cello in C Minor” by Franz Joseph Haydn.

For the last two of the 12 performances, Norell shifted to the upright piano to provide accompaniment for the students who performed selections from two piano concerto arrangements. Rachel Miller, a student, played “I. Allegro molto” from “Piano Concerto No. 3, Op. 50” by Dimitri Kabalevsky. To close out the afternoon’s student performances, Felix Perez-Diener played “I. Maestoso” from Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 7” by Robert Muczynski.

Norell had nothing but praise for the afternoon’s performances.

“I was very proud of our CSA students and faculty members at Saturday’s recital,” she said. “The students demonstrated fine musicianship and artistry in difficult repertoire that they are preparing for upcoming competitions, and they will represent the CSA well in the region.”