Organist Thomas Bara held a master class on campus for Goshen College student organists and several Organ Club members on Friday. He then presented a recital in Rieth Recital Hall on Sunday. The chairs in the hall faced away from the stage so audience members could gain a better view of the balcony where Bara sat at the organ. Chris Thogersen, assistant professor of music, was Bara’s registrant during the performance. Thogersen helped Bara pull out and push in the draw knobs. Bara opened his recital with “Präludium in E minor” by Nikolaus Bruhns, followed by “Concerto in D minor...

By Elizabeth Beachy • January 28, 2009 • Arts

Everyone at Sauder Concert Hall was out of their seats long before the standing ovation concluded Sunday afternoon’s sold-out Bobby McFerrin concert. McFerrin may go down in popular culture history as a one-hit wonder who sang “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” But with talent as playful, raw and imaginative as McFerrin’s, the fact that his definitive hit was conspicuously left off the set list did not seem to bother the crowd. They were given several opportunities to go on stage and perform alongside the music legend. In light blue jeans and a tight, short-sleeved black shirt, McFerrin’s dress was as unassuming...

By Ben Noll • January 21, 2009 • Arts

Rieth Recital Hall was at full capacity as friends, family and faculty packed in the space to enjoy a diverse set of original compositions. Jesse Landis-Eigsti, a senior music composition major, presented his senior recital last Friday, Jan. 16. Not only did Landis-Eigsti often conduct or play piano in his pieces, he called upon many talented students to help give flight. Landis-Eigsti composed for wind instruments, chorus, string trio, brass and even percussion, in the form of hands banging on music stands. Audience members received program notes to read while they experienced each unique composition. Notes from Landis-Eigsti helped listeners...

By Elizabeth Beachy • January 21, 2009 • Arts

Who hasn’t heard 10-time Grammy Award winner Bobby McFerrin’s captivating hit, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”? The song exhibits some of his best-known qualities, including his four-octave range and improvisational use of boops, bops and dweedle-dees.  However, it far from encompasses McFerrin’s music’s versatile use of vocal chords and intuitive comfort in jazz, classical and folk styles. The Los Angeles Times calls McFerrin’s greatest gift to his audience inviting spectators to become participants and “transforming a concert hall into a playground, a village center, a joyous space.”  This Sunday, Goshen College’s Performing Arts Series invites him to the stage of Sauder...

By Whitney Philipps • January 14, 2009 • Arts

The semester got off to an exciting start on Saturday evening as the Kansas Bible Co. took the Goshen Theater stage for a rousing concert performance. Local act The Bradley Effect kicked off the evening and anticipation grew as Goshen students and community members danced, while Bottle Rocket Blue finished up their set. The Kansas Bible Co. had hardly settled on stage when the crowd eagerly pounced up on the sub-stage in front of the band for the opening song, a cover of M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes,” with the majority college-aged crowd singing along. Jake Miller, a junior, who formed the...

By Rachel Halder • January 14, 2009 • Arts

Rebecca Hovan, a flute instructor, and Christine Seitz, a pianist and assistant professor of music, will present a recital in Rieth Recital Hall on Saturday, January 17 at 7:30 p.m. The recital is entitled “Suite Treats” and is a compilation of suites of various styles and time periods. A suite is a collection of dance movements. The musicians will open with “Suite in A minor” by Geoge Philip Telemann, a piece from the Baroque period (1600-1750), out of which the musical genre of suites arose. Next on the program is John Rutter’s “Suite Antique.”According to Hovan, the suite “uses several...

By Alysha Landis • January 14, 2009 • Arts