What do you get when you combine 105 GC choir members, 30 high school singers from northern Indiana and northeastern Ohio, 40 musicians of the Toledo Symphony Orchestra, 10 Shout for Joy youth choir members, five professional vocal soloists and GC alumnus Vance George?  For one, you get a lot of rehearsals and months of preparation for all parties involved. But more importantly, you get a collaboration that crosses state lines and a show that brings down the house. Last Sunday, this massive group of performers converged on Sauder Concert Hall as part of the Goshen College Performing Arts Series to...

By Mara Weaver • February 23, 2012 • Arts

Under the direction of Vance George, award-winning conductor and Goshen College alumnus, the GC choirs will perform a concert with the Toledo Symphony Orchestra at 7 p.m. Sunday in Sauder Concert Hall. George graduated from GC in 1955 with a double major in voice and piano. He studied under the tutelage of Mary Oyer and later continued his education at Indiana University to earn master’s and doctorate degrees in conducting. Most recently, George was honored with a 2011 Culture for Service Award from the Goshen College Alumni Board. Two years after George graduated from Goshen College, he spent three years...

By Quinn Brenneke • February 16, 2012 • News

Nathaniel Tann will perform for the first Hour After event of the year this Friday and Saturday evening in Newcomer 19. Tann, a senior biology and psychology double major, is a guitarist and vocalist who has been advertising his show via Facebook with the name, “My Hipster-tastic Hour After.” But what does this mean? Obscure throwbacks from the 90s? Tunes from lesser-known musicals like “Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog?” An eclectic blend of instruments playing original music? Exactly. But for Tann, many of the songs that he will be playing are standards. “A lot of the influences I have come...

By Liz Core • February 16, 2012 • Arts

Matthew Hill, chair of the Music Department and professor of music, will perform a solo piano recital this Friday highlighting the formal release of his new CD, “Silent Colors.” The CD was recorded on the Blue Griffin label last spring while he was on sabbatical. Hill noted the considerable amount of time and discipline that went into the creation of the album and explained the importance of developing a relationship with the music. “You have to record something you feel close to,” said Hill. The recital will include selected pieces from the CD and will feature works by Olivier Messiaen, Franz Liszt, Claude Debussy and Alexander...

By Twila Albrecht • February 16, 2012 • Arts

It’s been eight years since Goshen has been able to hear the instrumental jam band Lotus perform. Finally, they are headed our way. The five-member band, formed at Goshen College, has been hard at work. With the recent release of their self-titled fourth studio album, the band has just come off a fall tour and is preparing to start one for the spring. Special guest The B.E.A.T. will open for Lotus at the Goshen Theater on February 16. Lotus is particularly rooted in electronic and rock music and is predominantly instrumental instead of vocal. The band consists of Mike Greenfield...

By Kelsey Morris • February 9, 2012 • News

The Goshen College music department will host the 52nd annual Concerto-Aria Competition Concert on Saturday in Sauder Hall at 7:30 p.m. Winners of the competition will perform with the GC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Christopher Fashun. The orchestra will also perform an opening overture and closing finale. Competition winners include Martin Brubaker, a senior baritone; Lisa Horst, a senior pianist; Stephanie Hollenberg, a senior soprano; Levi Smucker, a junior composer; Elspeth Stalter, a senior violinist; and Justin Yoder, a junior cellist. Most of the musicians will perform solos, but some will perform in small ensembles. Stalter and Yoder will play...

By Quinn Brenneke • February 9, 2012 • Arts

On Friday morning the Goshen College Women’s World Choir will leave for Cincinnati, Ohio at 9:00 a.m.  The group will sing at the 2012 Cincinnati Mennonite Arts Festival as featured performers on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Pleasant Ridge Presbyterian Church. Performance selections include pieces from countries around the world, including Swaziland, Georgia Republic, Tanzania and Bulgaria.  Some songs will include folk instruments and body percussion. Amid traveling and performing, the women in the group will also have free time to explore the festival.  Hymn singing, art galleries and presentations are all included in the festivities of the weekend. Ida...

By Quinn Brenneke • February 2, 2012 • Arts

“This is the biggest project in my life ever,” says Levi Smucker. Smucker, a junior music major from Akron, PA, will be participating in this year’s Concerto Aria—an impressive feat for a Goshen College musician. However, Smucker is taking an unusual approach: he composed the song with which he competed. “I’ve been writing music since middle school,” says Smucker. “Lots of piano and piano/cello stuff, and it just took off from there.” Smucker said that when you learn music and theory together, writing music comes naturally. Smucker adds that one Lent season, he gave up not writing one hymn a week....

By Lavonne Shetler • November 30, 2011 • Arts

The Goshen College Music Department is jump-starting the holiday season this weekend with their traditional concert, Festival of Carols. The already sparkly Sauder Hall will be lit with twinkling Christmas lights along with other decorations, including a tall, ornate tree. “It’s different every year,” said Deb Brubaker, director of the Women’s Choir and Chamber Choir. “This year, though, we have new decorations!” The choirs will fill the stands and the orchestra will fill the stage, and these assorted groups of the music department will perform a variety of colorful pieces, some with a more traditional background, some more recent compositions and...

By Cora Broaddus • November 30, 2011 • Arts

World-renowned violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg and prestigious classical pianist Anne-Marie McDermott will be performing as a pair on Friday at 7:30 p.m. in Sauder Concert Hall as part of the Performing Arts Series. On Salerno-Sonnenberg’s personal website, Sauder Hall is listed among performances at venues in Tokyo, Japan, New York City and Vancouver.  As a professional in both solo and chamber violin, Salerno-Sonnenberg has been on tour with both full chamber orchestras and with only herself and her violin commanding the stage. Shortly after emigrating to the United States from Italy to study violin at The Curtis Institute of Music when...

By Liz Core • November 16, 2011 • News

The Galt Line, an eclectic duo based in Washington D.C., will bring their music to Goshen and perform at The Electric Brew Dec. 30 at 8 p.m. The band consists of musicians Blythe Crawford and Willie Gammell, who provide tunes to get audiences on their feet. “To us, performing is about throwing a party that everyone in the room is invited to,” Crawford said. “We don’t care too much about moving your emotions or getting you to think. We just want people to get all sweaty and dance-y.” The Galt Line began playing ukelele and guitar in 2008, when Crawford...

By Kate Stoltzfus • November 16, 2011 • Arts

Earlier this November, four music students traveled to Indiana Wesleyan University to compete in a statewide vocal competition. After a day of singing, they did not come back empty-handed. Senior music majors Stephanie Hollenberg and Andrea Detweiler both received awards in the National Association of Teachers of Singing competition on Nov. 5. GC professors Deb Brubaker and Scott Hostetler are part of the organization and accompanied Hollenberg, Detweiler, Adrienne Yoder and Colin Gregory, along with professor Christine Seitz, to the competition.“The organization sponsors a statewide competition every fall for students of teachers in the organization,” Brubaker said. “Students are from...

By Kate Stoltzfus • November 16, 2011 • News

Campus Activities Council, CAC, is proud to present its first hour after, La República on Friday, November 4th at 10:00 pm at New Comer 19. La Republica is a Latin rock band inspired by musicians like Caifanes, Jaguares, Manu Chao, Radiohead, Pink Floyd, Latin American music and the Beatles. Rafael Chavez and Daniel Moya, recent Goshen College graduates, started playing together during their time at Goshen College. Daniel’s brother, Juan, later joined them when he came to GC. Leah Yoder and Adam Nussbaum were also part of the band’s development. As they began to play a lot of Latin American...

By Chagan Sanathu • November 2, 2011 • Arts

Playing sweet melodies of funky surf rock, the vivacious group of 11 band members formally known as the Kansas Bible Company will return to Goshen to play at the Goshen Theater tomorrow night. These former Goshen College students will make their way from Nashville, Tenn. to show First Friday goers their journey, “to the stars through rugged ways.” The show begins at 8 p.m. as a part of the musical entertainment of this month’s downtown Goshen events. Jason Samuel, communications professor and general manager of 91.1 The Globe, will emcee this free event sponsored by Downtown Goshen Inc. The band...

By Kaeli Evans • November 2, 2011 • News

For residents of Kenwood house, hanging out on the porch and singing songs has been a common occurrence during the first half of the semester. But it was Lydia Yoder, friend of Kenwood house and resident of neighboring Howell house, who suggested that a more formal porch concert be held. On Friday night, Kenwood’s wrap-around porch was transformed into a full venue for one night of “Porchapalooza.” Michael Miller, a junior resident of Kenwood, did most of the coordinating for the event. He sent out “personalized mass emails” to musicians across campus, encouraging their talents and inviting them to participate...

By Liz Core • November 2, 2011 • News