Former Goshen College art professor Randy Horst presented his new art exhibit in GC’s Hershberger Art Gallery on Sunday, Jan. 22.  The opening also included a reception where Horst reflected on his work, which is titled “Inside Voices.” After serving as a professor at GC for 13 years, Horst retired last spring. He graduated from GC after transferring from Hesston College, and received his Master of Fine Arts from Bowling Green University in 1986. Horst remains involved in the local community, and his passion for art extends past the visual — he is currently in two local musical groups: “The...

By Kate Bodiker • January 26, 2023 • Arts

For the first time, the Goshen College Symphony Orchestra (GCSO) is directed by a female conductor: Victoria “Tori” Petrak.  After Brian Mast transitioned from orchestra director to director of facilities across the GC campus, the GCSO leadership shifted to interim director Petrak, a graduate of Baldwin Wallace University and Kent State University.  Petrak, who has been working with the Youth Honors Orchestra within Goshen College’s Community School of the Arts for three years, explained that Mast and Matthew Hill, chair of GC’s music department, approached her in August about filling the position. Although previous commitments did not allow her to...

By Amelia Witmer-Rich • January 26, 2023 • Arts

On the same day GC students began their classes for the semester, many students, including myself, went to the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival at the University of Michigan-Flint. A five-day event, the festival is a giant celebration of theater with college students, working professionals and casting organizations gathering from across the Midwest. The festival included workshops such as “Acting Through The Microphone” and “Consent In A Knife Fight.” A challenge of the festival was not being able to attend everything, so one had to plan out their day very carefully.  We also saw many incredible performances and captivating...

By Fatima Rhana • January 19, 2023 • Arts

Goshen College’s 2023 King Celebration honored the life Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Jan. 20 with a faculty recital by H. Roz Woll, associate professor of music, and colleague Roy Jennings, pianist, arranger and founder of Arch Angel Productions.  The recital included music from all African-American composers and spoken word from Jakyra Green, a junior English and secondary education major and a song performed by Nakiyah Kilpatrick, a senior sign language interpreting major. Initially slated for October 2022, the recital was postponed to GC’s King Celebration due to Jennings being ill.  With the date change, Woll decided to have...

By Sarah Miller • January 19, 2023 • Arts

As Goshen College is preparing to host their annual Christmas music concert, Festival of Carols, students and staff are working behind the scenes to prepare for the three highly anticipated performances. This year, the festival will also be recorded by FiveCore Media for a PBS special. Aysia Adkins lights the lobby tree. Tyson Miller//The Record The festival is being produced with the help of students, including Tyson Miller and Sarah Miller.  “Festival of Carols is different from our other shows in that it’s cue based,” Tyson Miller said. “So a lot of it is coordinating that with the start of...

By Albert Aguilar • December 2, 2022 • Arts

Students had the opportunity to participate in a student art sale for downtown Goshen’s First Friday this past weekend. The theme of the November First Friday was “Art Tour.” The event called for artists of the Goshen area to present their work at the Goshen Farmers Market, Goshen Brewing Company, The Painted Finch and other local businesses. “The November First Fridays were focused on local artists throughout downtown,” said Emma Zuercher, a senior sign language interpreting major with a minor in art. “A few months ago, folks at the Goshen Farmers Market contacted Merrill [Krabill] about featuring Goshen College students...

By Faith Fegley • November 11, 2022 • Arts

The fall mainstage, “Everybody” by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, will feature something uncommon in theater productions — an onstage lottery to determine which actor plays which character. Among the cast, five out of the ten actors have taken on the task of learning five different parts instead of just one. Daniel Stoltzfus, Kate Bodiker, Meredith Blossom, Fatima Rhana and Jocsan Barahona Rosales will take turns playing the titular character, known as Everybody, as well as a host of other characters named after various virtues.  Among all the characters, Everybody has been the most challenging to get comfortable with.  “We’re getting to a...

By Tyson Miller • November 11, 2022 • Arts

Halloween — the spookiest holiday of the year, best known for the costumes, candy and activities that come along with it. This year, Halloween Weekend (affectionately called “Halloweekend” by students) included two costume contests at GC events. One of the contests was at Howell-ween, a celebration put on by the residents of Howell House, while another took place at the Haunted Ball, hosted by The Role-Playing Game Club (RPGC) and the Campus Activities Council (CAC).  The winner of the Haunted Ball contest was senior Skyler Van Antonides, dressed as a “Wandering Wizard.” Runner-up was faculty advisor Greg Sommers, who spoke...

By Sarah Miller • November 3, 2022 • Arts

The Goshen College Symphony Orchestra (GCSO) will present their fall concert in Sauder Concert Hall on Friday, and it will be one of their last concerts directed by Brian Mast.  The concert will feature three distinctive pieces: the Overture from Leonard Bernstein’s “West Side Story,” Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Overture and Bedřich Smetana’s The Moldau.  “I wanted to pick some programmatic music that depicts something,” said Brian Mast, director of the GCSO and executive director of the Music Center.  Both the “West Side Story” piece and the Tchaikovsky overture explore the story of Romeo and Juliet, albeit in very different...

By Amelia Witmer-Rich • November 3, 2022 • Arts

Illustrator John Hendrix spoke in Rieth Recital Hall on Sunday. Hendrix is the latest guest in the Eric Yake Kenagy Visiting Artist Program. The program, a memorial for a Goshen College graduate who died in a cycling accident, invites a visual artist to campus each year to give a lecture and interact with GC art students.  Hendrix has quite the list of achievements — his work has been featured in a variety of big-name publications, including The New York Times, Sports Illustrated and Time magazine. Hendrix has also published five books, and he currently serves as the chair of the...

By Annika Alderfer Fisher • October 28, 2022 • Arts

Sauder Concert Hall was full of music of the past and present to celebrate Homecoming Weekend on Saturday. Alumni of all ages, backgrounds and identities gathered to watch students and faculty perform music with themes of love and joy at the annual Homecoming Gala.  The concert opened with the Goshen College Symphony Orchestra performing the overture from the Broadway musical “West Side Story.” Brian Mast, conductor, led the orchestra in this dynamic opener.  “It was better than expected,” said Francisco Behan Morillo, a first-year in orchestra, Vox Profundi and Chamber Choir. “I was just excited to be performing!” Vox Profundi...

By Fatima Rhana • October 13, 2022 • Arts

Goshen College hosts a hidden gem in the basement of the Visual Arts Building: the ceramics studio. The studio is covered in a fine layer of clay dust, with shelves lining every corner to display student’s current projects. These include bowls, pots, coffee mugs, busts and more.  Students from all backgrounds and majors have found themselves in the ceramics studio creating pottery and sculptures. “I don’t always get as much time as I would like in the studio,” said Emma Zuercher, a senior sign language interpreting major with a minor in art. “But I’m intentional about creating time here. It’s...

By Faith Fegley • October 13, 2022 • Arts

Goshen College’s Lavender Jazz band is set to have their yearly kick-off this Friday at Goshen Theater. The concert will feature the big band, as well as the two bands or “combos” within Lavender Jazz. The band plays classic jazz hits, as well as swing, blues and music typical of New Orleans and Dixieland.  “Even though there are over 100 years worth of jazz styles to choose from, the band draws primarily from relatively contemporary styles,” said Greg Smucker, director of Lavender Jazz. “Lavender Jazz will be performing arrangements as a big band, which is 14 to 18 members, and...

By Albert Aguilar • October 7, 2022 • Arts

“The Fledgling” “centers around two household pets trying to figure out why this fledgling bird is disrupting their peace on their fire escape. Throughout the discussion, the audience is brought to see how easy it is to have empathy for those who aren’t like us.”  That’s how Shianne Harrison, a 2020 Goshen graduate of the theater department, describes this year’s Peace Play Contest winner.  The biannual Peace Play Contest invites playwrights to submit original one-act plays related to the theme of peace to a selection committee. The winning play is performed by Goshen College’s theater department, and the playwright is...

By Annika Alderfer Fisher • October 7, 2022 • Arts

Goshen College’s Music Center held their annual Sherer International Violin and Piano Competition on Sept. 17 and 18. The competition was open to classically trained pianists and violinists ages 13-18 across the globe. While the competition was originally set to begin in 2020, its first year was canceled due to COVID-19. This is the second year the music department has held the competition. “I was honored to be asked [to judge] and thoroughly enjoyed listening to the 11 talented violinists,” said Professor Penny Thompson Kruse, professor of violin at Bowling Green State University and a judge for the Sherer Competition....

By Faith Fegley • September 30, 2022 • Arts