Mandolinist Chris Thile, a MacArthur Fellow and Grammy winner, will perform at Sauder Concert Hall on Saturday, Feb. 4 at 7:30 p.m. Thile has performed at Sauder three previous times: as a part of the trio Nickel Creek, which won the International Mountain Bluegrass Award, in 2006; with the quintet The Punch Brothers, which won a Grammy Award, in 2009; and as a solo act in 2015.  This will be the first show for the Goshen College Performing Arts Series in 2023, due to the rescheduling of popular public radio host Ira Glass’ “Seven Things I’ve Learned” that was originally...

By Ana Yoder • February 2, 2023 • Arts

Sauder Concert Hall kicked off the 2022 Goshen College Performing Arts Series on Friday with a concert by brother-sister duo Watkins Family Hour and soloist Courtney Hartman. The first part of the show was run by Colorado-born artist Courtney Hartman. The folk singer and guitarist wowed the crowd with her talent, performing music she had written over the years and songs from her second solo album, “Glade.” While it was her first time on the Sauder Concert Hall stage, Hartman said that she hopes to return for more performances in the future.  After an intermission, the audience’s anticipation finally came...

By Sarah Miller • January 28, 2022 • Arts

Performing arts series returns to Sauder concert hall The Goshen College Music Center is reintroducing the Performing Arts Series (PAS) in 2021 and 2022 to showcase nine eclectic performances. The PAS consists of new music artists and brings back fan favorites such as GC alum Carrie Newcomer and husband-and-wife duo Over the Rhine. “I love the performing art series … it is a great way to connect with the community, which is a big part of what the music center’s mission is,” says Brian Mast, executive director of the series and Goshen College’s Music Center. Many people from the community...

By Jakyra Green • September 16, 2021 • Arts

When Goshen College Chamber Choir performed with Conspirare, a Grammy award winning choir based in Austin, Texas, as part of the 2018-2019 Performing Arts Series, no one knew COVID-19 would bring them together again. This past Tuesday, Conspirare, in cooperation with the University of Albany, released a virtual choir recording of the final piece of the oratorio “Considering Matthew Shepard: All of Us,” which featured not only Conspirare, but also 477 singers from over 45 choirs in four different countries. Those invited to sing along were choir members who sang “Considering Matthew Shepard” alongside Conspirare in concert over the course...

By Kristin Jantzen • August 27, 2020 • Arts

The Step Crew, a percussive dance team, will take to the stage of Sauder Concert Hall this Friday night at 7:30 p.m. as part of the Performing Arts Series. The troupe specializes in three different types of percussive dance: Irish, Tap and Ottawa Valley. The Step Crew’s specialty is combining these diverse types of dance to create an energized new style that honors the traditions of each culture while creating a dance that is entirely their own. The dancers and musicians have been part of a number of other groups, including The Chieftains, Cherish the Ladies and the violinist group,...

By Emily Bennett • March 28, 2019 • Arts

After a strong musical performance on Tuesday night, it should come as no surprise to learn that Seraphic Fire, the most recent performer in Goshen College’s Performing Arts Series (PAS), already has two Grammy Award nominations to its name. The 14-person vocal and instrumental ensemble from Miami, Florida took the Sauder Concert Hall stage alongside the American Brass Quartet for an evening of classical music from both historic and living composers. In the first act, the combination of vocal and brass led the audience on a musical journey down the Camino de Santiago, a Spanish pilgrimage trail that crosses Spain...

By Olivia Smucker • February 22, 2019 • Arts

The middle of winter can be dreadful and lifeless, especially with biting cold weather and falling snow. This weekend, Goshen College presented FROGZ, a show that brought joy and whimsy to brighten up the winter. FROGZ is a show that combines mimes, dance, special effects, costumes and music to create a diverse and spectacular experience. FROGZ is presented by Imago Theatre, a company based in Portland, Oregon. The show used five dancers dressed up as different animals to portray different human emotions. The show is nonverbal and light-hearted, allowing it to be suitable for all audiences. The characters are sassy...

By Patrick Qualkinbush • February 7, 2019 • Arts

Goshen College will be hosting the trio I’m With Her on Saturday, Nov. 3 at 7:30 p.m. in Sauder Concert Hall. The performance is part of the 2018 Performing Arts Concert Series. The trio, which PopMatters described as “a beautiful cohesion of tight harmonies, acoustic brilliance, and fresh songwriting,” sings folk and bluegrass, mostly of their own composition. Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz and Aoife O’Donovan form the group, which released its debut album “See You Around” in February of this year. They are finishing up their 2018 “Overland Tour” across the US. In 2019 they will be touring globally. All...

By DeLaney Powell • October 31, 2018 • Arts

Kicking off the 2018-2019 Performing Arts Series, the Grammy award-winning choir Conspirare returns to Sauder Concert Hall with “Considering Matthew Shepard” on Friday, Sept. 14. “Considering Matthew Shepard” is a 100-minute oratorio composed by Conspirare Artistic Director Craig Hella Johnson to preserve the story of Matthew Shepard. In October of 1998, Shepard, a gay student at the University of Wyoming was abducted, severely beaten, and left for dead in a rural Wyoming field. Shepard passed away five days later because of his injuries. This year marks the 20th anniversary of Shepard’s passing, which resulted in the creation of the Hate...

By Kory Stoneburner-Betts • September 10, 2018 • Arts

On the evening of Oct. 14, the Music Center hosted Mary Chapin Carpenter in a return performance for the most recent installment of the 2017-2018 Goshen College Performing Arts Series. Chapin Carpenter is a five-time Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and an inductee in the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. Her back catalog consists of an expansive 14 albums, the latest being, “The Things That We Are Made of,” released in 2016. Chapin Carpenter previously performed at Goshen College in 2006. Chapin Carpenter’s bassist Don Dixon and Marty Jones opened the show. Performing before an audience of 863 people in Sauder Music...

By Kory Stoneburner-Betts • October 26, 2017 • Arts

Allison Kosins, an 18-year-old from Warsaw, Indiana, had the opportunity to meet a member of Canadian Brass on Saturday, Sept. 16 when the quintet ensemble returned to perform at Goshen College as part of the 20th Anniversary Performing Arts Series. Kosins is a musician in her own right, playing the French horn in her school band and church orchestra. Kosins also has been diagnosed with aplastic Leukemia. Later this fall, Kosins is scheduled to undergo a bone marrow transplant procedure. Through the Indiana Child’s Wish Foundation Alison was granted a French horn of her own, which she received earlier Saturday...

By Kory Stoneburner-Betts • September 21, 2017 • Arts

For the past 20 years, the Goshen College’s Performing Art Series has brought many performers to Sauder Hall over the years, each of them exciting and outstanding in their genres. This year’s season will bring back some familiar faces as well as new ones. On Saturday, Sept. 16, Goshen College will be visited by Canadian Brass, a quintet that has earned a international reputation. Consisting of two trumpets, a horn, a trombone and a tuba, the group is known for doing justice to works by revered composers, and they aren’t afraid to throw some comedy into their performances. Mary Chapin...

By Irina Gladun • September 7, 2017 • Arts

A man strides to the center of the dark stage, confident in his shiny gray suit. He sings, “I’m not promising the moon/I’m not promising a rainbow/Just a practical solution/To a solitary life…” A man in a vest and tie appears next to the first and echoes the singer’s sentiment without words, the plaintive cry of his saxophone filling the room. These two musicians will soon grace the stage of Sauder Hall. Vocalist Kurt Elling and saxophonist Branford Marsalis are touring in support of their Grammy-nominated jazz collaboration Upward Spiral. Marsalis and Elling will joined by the other three members...

By Andrew Pauls • January 26, 2017 • Arts

On Sunday, Goshen College welcomed the Ulysses Quartet to campus to play as a part of the Rieth Chamber Series. This concert was the second in the line-up. The quartet has members from Prince Edward Island, California, Pennsylvania and Taiwan. It was formed in the summer of 2015. By 2016, they were the String Division Gold Medalists and Grand Prize Winners of the Fischoff Competition at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend. “We are quite lucky to have the Fischoff competition occur so close to Goshen, and to get the winning performers to come give a recital every...

By Elsa Lantz • October 13, 2016 • Arts

The 2016-17 Goshen College Performing Arts Series will once again bring outstanding performers from around the world to the stage of the Music Center’s Sauder Hall. This year’s line-up is a diverse and international group of new and returning artists from many different countries, including Argentina, England, Ireland, South Africa, Norway, and Ukraine, as well as many brilliant musicians from the United States. Over the coming year, 10 groups of musicians will come to perform in Sauder Hall, bringing with them the excitement of multiple genres of music, song, and dance. With performances ranging from classical to jazz, (even mbube,...

By Jonah Yoder • September 8, 2016 • Arts