On Saturday March 19, Ira Glass, creator and host of the public radio show “This American Life,” will bring his talents to Sauder Concert Hall. The event, titled “Reinventing Radio: An Evening with Ira Glass,” is an exciting addition to Goshen College’s Performing Arts Series Beginning at 7:30 p.m., Glass will host a talk discussing his radio program and the process through which it was created. In the simplest explanation of the show, the program sticks to a weekly theme around which stories are compiled and then aired. These shows, however, cannot be categorized as news or even as a...

By Riley Mills • March 10, 2016 • News

Vocal innovator Bobby McFerrin will take the stage in Sauder Concert Hall for this year’s Performing Arts Series Valentine’s Day concert. This will be McFerrin’s second appearance on the Sauder stage. McFerrin last performed in Goshen during the winter of 2009. According to Maryn Munley, performance venue production manager at the Goshen College Music Center, his 2009 performance was a “huge hit.” This weekend’s concert is also expected to be a major success, especially because this time, McFerrin will be joined onstage by Goshen College’s own Chamber Choir, who performed last year with Garrison Keillor. Katie Shank, a sophomore alto,...

By Jenae Longenecker • February 11, 2016 • Arts

As evidenced by its own choirs and instrumental groups, Goshen College knows music. This affinity for the musical arts is also observed through the college’s Performing Arts Series, in which a lineup of talented artists come to campus and perform. On Friday, Goshen College will welcome Rosanne Cash, a Grammy winning artist, to Sauder Hall. Cash, the daughter of country music legend Johnny Cash, was born on May 24, 1955 in Nashville, Tennessee; the heart of country music. Johnny Cash is considered a father of country music and has produced hits such as “I Walk the Line” and “Folsom PrisonBlues.”...

By Carter Mckay-Epp • January 28, 2016 • Arts

The highly acclaimed, Grammy award-winning Soweto Gospel Choir took the stage on Sunday as part of the 2015-2016 Performing Arts Series. The group is a choir from the Soweto Township, a part of Johannesburg, South Africa. Their performance included gospel songs in several native South African languages as well as English. The turnout for the concert was significant, with the majority of the hall filled. The choir was not unfamiliar with the Sauder Hall stage as they had given a concert for the Performing Arts Series at Goshen College in 2007. The concert included upbeat African drumming in all of...

By Emma Koop Liechty • November 12, 2015 • Arts

“Don’t worry, be happy.” Those are the well-known words made famous in 1988 by Bobby McFerrin, a renowned singer who will be visiting Goshen College this coming February as part of the Goshen College Performing Arts Series. Famous for his unique vocalization methods and carefree manner, the winner of ten Grammy awards is just one of the well-known musicians and performers who will be visiting the college this season. In fact, many of the other visiting performers are also Grammy award winning artists, such as Rhiannon Giddens, an aspiring young artist reviving the traditional songs of the Carolinas, Bela Fleck...

By Lydia Good • September 3, 2015 • Arts

This Tuesday, February 10, the Sauder Concert Hall will welcome a very different group than its usual performing artists: The Peking Acrobats. The Peking Acrobats are a Chinese acrobatics group that began in 1986 and has travelled the world performing daring stunts and aerial maneuvers. They specialize in trick-cycling, contortion, tumbling and performing stunts upon large stacks of chairs. “The Performing Arts Series tends to be just music,” said Brian Mast, music center managing director and the arts presenter running point for this show, “but we like the idea of expanding it to be more diverse in the artists that...

By Kolton Nay • February 5, 2015 • Arts

The Indigo Girls, a Grammy-winning, folk-rock duo, will be the first main act in this year’s Performing Arts Series. This year marks the 17th annual Performing Arts Series at Goshen College. “I think that it is amazing that we can bring these world class performers to the Goshen College and wider Elkhart County communities,” said Brian Mast, managing director at the music center. Each year, Mast directs the process of gathering suggestions and booking artists. He also makes sure the performers have an enjoyable experience in Goshen, given that performing isn’t always the only thing on the artists’ agenda. “We...

By Monica Miller • September 10, 2014 • Arts

The Performing Arts Series for 2014-15 was announced at the Fort Wayne Philharmonic concert held in Sauder Hall last Friday night. Next year’s line-up will include: Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Lyle Lovett, The Peking Acrobats, Turtle Island Quartet with Nellie McKay, Indigo Girls, Silk Road Ensemble, Conspirare and Boston Brass and the Enso String Quartet. A bonus performance, A Prairie Home Companion by Garrison Keillor, will be given for those who purchase tickets to the eight shows in the regular series. Season tickets are for six performances. The first four in the lineup are included and the other two tickets can...

By Quinn Brenneke • April 17, 2014 • News

The Performing Arts Series of Sauder Concert Hall offers a range of performances, from radio hosts to symphonies to folk singers to classical boys’ choirs.  The series is meant to create a space for campus and community members to interact with Goshen College’s campus and each other in the presence of eclectic performers. One such talent is the Vienna Boys Choir, which has been a long sought-after performance. However, due to scheduling, they were unable to come to Sauder until this performance season. The Vienna Boys Choir will be performing at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Sauder Concert Hall. Brian Mast,...

By Elizabeth Franks-North • November 22, 2013 • Arts

A full audience spent an evening with Garrison Keillor, famed writer, storyteller and radio personality, Tuesday evening in Sauder Concert Hall. Keillor appeared in a suit and his signature red socks and sneakers, and began the night with personal stories as well as tales from his fictional town of Lake Wobegon. Halfway through the show, Keillor led audience members in singing a series of gospel and folk songs, such as “America the Beautiful” and the Doxology. He resumed with more tales, and ended with some of his own proverbs. What stood out? When asked what his favorite part of storytelling...

By Kate Friesen • October 22, 2013 • Arts Kate Stoltzfus • October 22, 2013 • Arts

The Wailin’ Jennys will be on familiar ground when they take the stage Friday in Sauder Concert Hall. For the second time in three years, the girl-trio known for their haunting acoustic harmonies is returning to Goshen College to give the Mennonites a run for their four-part chords. The Wailin’ Jennys, also known as Nicky Mehta, Ruth Moody and Heather Masse, are an internationally-known folk group who first began making music together in 2004. They have since released four albums, including their latest, Bright Morning Stars; several of them won Juno awards (Canadian equivalent of a Grammy). Their sound is...

By Kate Stoltzfus • September 18, 2013 • Arts

Philip Proctor’s family first realized he had a gift for music when, at four months old, Phillip hummed back the hymn his grandpa was singing to put him to sleep. This, jokes Proctor, was quite likely his first and last free performance. Now, after 63 years of acting, music, writing and producing, Proctor is returning to Goshen for a concert with the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet in the community he once called home. Proctor’s career includes a wide range of award-winning work, from founding and performing with the three-time Grammy-nominated comedic quartet, Firesign Theatre, to Broadway and off-Broadway shows, to...

By Vanessa Jones • March 7, 2013 • Arts

Emmylou Harris opened her Performing Arts Series concert on Saturday evening with a warm welcome to her audience. “Settle back and see where we take ya,” Harris said as she strummed her guitar and looked out onto a packed Sauder Hall. Tickets to see the 12-time Grammy country singer–known for partnering with other folk icons like John Denver, Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson–had been sold out for weeks. Many audience members, like Mark Nafziger, ’81, were long-time fans thrilled to see the musician they’d followed since their college years. Others, like Becca Yoder, a senior, were curious to hear Harris...

By Becca Kraybill • January 17, 2013 • Arts

The 2012-2013 Performing Arts Series season includes musicians that have performed all over the world, worked with celebrities such as Bob Dylan and Aretha Franklin and have won or been nominated for Grammy, Golden Globe and Academy awards. Seraphic Fire, a 13-member choral group, opened the PAS season on Friday evening in Sauder Hall. Seraphic Fire was founded in 2002 and has been nominated for two Grammy awards. The concert was a five-set performance including a range of traditional, chamber and folk music. A crowd favorite was “Jesus Christ the Apple Tree,” which the choir sang in a cappella style as...

By Hayley Brooks • September 20, 2012 • Arts

Mark O’Connor’s visit to Goshen College on Tuesday night brought crowds ready to bop and jive to some smooth, swing tunes. O’Connor, an American fiddler, composer, and teacher performed with his acoustic and vocal ensemble in Sauder Concert Hall as part of the 2011-2012 Performing Arts Series. Accompanying O’Connor on vocals was Heather Masse, best-known by her folk group, The Wailin’ Jennys, who visited the Sauder stage in 2010. Playing guitar were Frank Vignola and Matt Munisteri, and Gary Mazzaroppi was on bass. Each of these musicians have successful careers individually, but together they carried the swing of O’Connor’s fiddling....

By Anna Ruth • March 28, 2012 • Arts