On Tuesday, Nov. 4, Sauder Concert Hall had multiple local high school choirs come together for Goshen College’s annual Treblefest Concert. 

Each choir sang two to three songs where the concert then concluded with two combined pieces. There were 150 high school students in total; around half of the students had never been in Sauder Concert Hall. 

GC’s Voices of the Earth choir, conducted by H. Roz Woll, associate professor of music, sang “Ajde Jano,” “Ndandihleli” and “Organize, Agitate, Educate!” The mass pieces were “Courage” and “Plena.” “Ajde Jano” and “Plena” are both pieces about dance and the joy of dancing. 

During a speech given in a break between songs, Woll said that she placed these songs intentionally so that Voices of the Earth would open their section with a song about dance. The idea was to then have the mass choir end the concert with a song within the same topic. 

In regards to this, she mentioned, “Dancing reminds us that we can still breathe.”

Marcia Yost, director of the arts: engagement and outreach and interim director of the Community School of the Arts, stated the importance of the Treblefest Concert as a two-pronged approach. The first prong is the recruitment of new students at GC. Yost said, “They get to see the campus, they wander around, they see housing, they eat in the dining room, they get a whole feeling for what it’s like to be on a college campus.” 

The second prong is the learning aspect of the festival. The high school students get direction from GC’s high voices director and also receive the opportunity to experience singing in a choir with 150 singers with the importance of music in the lives of others. 

Kate Roth, a senior music major,  said that coming to GC as a high school student for the Treblefest Concert greatly impacted her decision to attend the college. 

The sheer amount of singers also impacted Woll, who said that being the conductor is the place where she feels the most inspired. She said she is extremely grateful for the participation from the college students and their willingness to interact with the high schoolers.