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

A Grammy-winning string band, the Carolina Chocolate Drops, will be performing at Sauder Concert Hall on Tuesday, October 25 at 7:30 p.m. as a part of the 2011-2012 Performing Arts Series. The Goshen community is invited to come enjoy the wide variety of instruments, ranging from banjos to bones and even jugs and kazoos, that the Carolina Chocolate Drops offer in their five-person band. The traditional African-American string band gives a modern take on many older Southern folk tunes and themes. The band began in the summer of 2005 when Dom Flemons, Rhiannon Giddens and Justin Robinson came together every Thursday...

By Kate Friesen • October 12, 2011 • News

Grammy Award-winner Mary Chapin Carpenter will sing in Goshen on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. as part of the college’s Performing Arts Series. “This year we wanted a folk offering as part of the series,” said Jenette Yoder, director of special events. “We have tried for several years to get Mary Chapin Carpenter arnd finally her schedule and our open dates matched.” The concert, held at the Music Center in Sauder Hall, will feature songs from many of Carpenter’s 12 albums. Carpenter, a New Jersey native, got her start playing at local bars in Washington, D.C. during college. She signed with...

By Kate Stoltzfus • October 5, 2011 • Arts

It’s not often that every child in a family plays the same instrument, much less that they all play well enough to tour the country. The 5 Browns, however, do just that, and will perform at Sauder Concert Hall on Saturday, March 12, at 7:30 p.m. as a part of the Goshen College Performing Arts Series. The five Brown siblings—Desirae, Deondra, Gregory, Melody and Ryan—comprise the touring piano group that captivates audiences with their joyous performances. The siblings play a combination of classical music, including anything from duets to complex quintet music. The New York Post described the group as...

By Lavonne Shetler • March 10, 2011 • Arts

Jonsi, Nov 5, Detroit Over the Rhine, Oct. 29,  Goshen Theatre Lady Gaga, Feb. 28, Chicago and March 1, Grand Rapids, Mich. After I had the privilege of seeing The Wailin’ Jennys perform at Goshen College this month, it got me thinking about the other concerts that I am looking forward to attending, or are at least on my wish list. I am a true believer that the music is a lot better when performed live than on a digital recording. With the fall concert tours already here and the winter season fast approaching, there are a few concerts that...

By Trisha Danielle Handrich • October 27, 2010 • Arts

When The Wailin’ Jennys walked onto the stage of Sauder Concert Hall for the performing arts series concert Tuesday night, and the air of hushed anticipation in the packed room finally lifted, it was only the first magical moment of a concert that took the audience deep into heart-woven harmonies and what one attendee called “really personal music” that demonstrated both the Jennys’ versatility and seamless vocal blending. The Jennys -soprano Ruth Moody, mezzo Nicky Mehta, and the newest Jenny, alto Heather Massey- claim Winnipeg as their base, and have only recently been back on tour after a one and...

By Josh Yoder • October 14, 2010 • Arts

Conspirare, a Grammy- nominated chamber choir, will sing in Sauder Concert Hall at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 5. The group will also record a new album in Sauder, with the well-known classical recording label Harmonia Mundi, during their visit. Having heard about Sauder’s exceptional acoustics, Conspirare decided to record in Sauder even before Goshen’s Performing Arts Series committee asked them to perform. It worked out perfectly that they would combine concert with recording in a three-day visit to Goshen this October. In Latin, “conspirare” means “to breathe together.” In one unified breath, this group of 36 professional singers from...

By Sarah Rich • September 30, 2010 • Arts

GOSHEN, Ind. – The 2010-11 season of the Goshen College Performing Arts Series will again bring an incredible breadth of top quality arts performances to the college, including Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Conspirare, Wailin’ Jennys, Shawn Colvin and Loudon Wainwright III, BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet, Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana, The 5 Browns and the St. Petersburg Philharmonic. The line-up was publicly announced last night, March 30, at the final concert of the 2009-10 season, which featured the African Children’s Choir. Initial reservations were available immediately following the concert, and season tickets formally go on sale to the public at 9...

By Marlys Weaver • April 8, 2010 • Arts

The African Children’s Choir graced the stage of Sauder Concert Hall last Tuesday with songs of harvest, celebration, courtship, and hope. The African Children’s Choir has been in existence for 23 years. The goal of the choir is to “raise the awareness of the light of the orphaned and abandoned, but also showing the beauty, dignity, and potential of the African child.” Since it’s beginning, the choir has expanded greatly. To date, the choir cares for around 7,500 underprivileged children throughout seven countries in Africa: Uganda. Kenya. Rwanda. Congo. Nigeria. Ghana. Sudan. South Africa. The choir is currently partnering with...

By Andrea Kraybill • April 1, 2010 • Arts

Six-time Grammy winning Irish band, the Chieftains filled Sauder Concert Hall on Friday night with lively music and dancing. Formed in 1962 by Paddy Moloney, the group was one of the first bands to make Irish traditional music popular around the world. While uncovering a wealth of traditional Irish music, the Chieftains make music that defies any one style. The latest release in a history of 40 albums is titled “San Patricio” and traces connections between Mexican folklore music and Irish traditional music. Over the band’s 40-year career, they have collaborated with famous names across genres from Ziggy Marley to...

By Andrea Kraybill • March 10, 2010 • Arts

Ralph Stanley, who “The New York Times” described as “the living patriarch of bluegrass,” performed in  Sauder Concert Hall last Friday night along with the bluegrass Clinch Mountain Boys as part of the Performing Arts Series. Stanley, 82, began performing professionally with his late brother, Carter, in 1946. He has since won wide acclamation and numerous Grammys, including one for his part in the “O Brother Where Art Thou?”  soundtrack. The first numbers of the program featured the quick-picking Clinch Mountain Boys, decked out in black suits and tan cowboy hats, whose various soloists had the crowd clapping. Soon after, Ralph...

By Andrea Kraybill • February 9, 2010 • Arts

Three-time Grammy winners. Openers for Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead. Contributors to soundtracks such as “The Sopranos,” “The Simpsons,” and “Spy Kids.” Performers for the First Family. All these achievements define Los Lobos, a high-energy American-Chicano rock band that will be performing at our own Goshen College, this Saturday, November 21. Los Lobos, or “the Wolves,” has been performing for three decades, ever since they joined together as adolescents to play at weddings and bars in Los Angeles. Since then, their music has evolved from simply rock and acoustic to traditional Spanish and Mexican songs, and finally to a...

By Becca Kraybill • November 19, 2009 • Arts

Balet Folklórico and the award-winning Mexican folk band Sones de México will perform at 8 p.m. in Sauder Concert Hall on Friday, Oct. 23. Tickets are free with the donation of a canned item to The Window, a food pantry located on Main Street in Goshen. The concert is sponsored by Goshen College’s Center for Intercultural Teaching and Learning (CITL) and by the Performing Arts Series. Concertgoers are encouraged to drop off their cans at the Performing Arts Center that evening. Ed Swartley, executive director of The Window, will be present with information about the food pantry’s services. CITL wanted...

By Kelsey Shue • October 14, 2009 • Arts

This year’s Performing Arts Series will welcome an array of sounds, ranging from jazzy-Spanish flair, to traditional-Irish reel, to classical-string melody. Over the span of September to February, eight groups of musicians will perform in Sauder Hall, bringing with them talent that has collectively earned more than 30 Grammy® Awards. The season will debut on September 19 with Doc Severinsen and El Ritmo de la Vida, a group that features Spanish music with a twist of jazz. Severinsen, who grew up in Oregon, is a Grammy award winner and has produced over 30 albums. His energetic trumpeting is best known...

By Becca Kraybill • September 9, 2009 • Arts

Audience members for the final Performing Arts Series concert of the year shouldn’t get too comfortable in their seats. The main event on Tuesday, Poncho Sanchez and his Latin Jazz band, is sure to have the crowd moving with their Afro-Cuban salsa beats. The evening will also include the highly-anticipated announcement of next year’s Performing Arts Series lineup. Next year’s cast will feature more combined Grammy awards than any previous lineup in the prestigious series, which has included musicians such as Wynton Marsalis, Dave Brubeck and Bobby McFerrin. Sanchez – a Grammy award winner for Best Latin Jazz Album in...

By Ben Noll • April 8, 2009 • Arts