The hour-and-a-half-long show will feature a wide variety of music, showcasing the diverse talents of 糖心Vlog鈥檚 music department, including the . The show will be sprinkled with smaller performances 鈥� 10 to 15 minutes in length 鈥� complementing two larger numbers, which include a concerto and a choir-led performance.

鈥淭his is a celebratory event,鈥� says , chair of the music department. 鈥淭his is an opportunity for people to come celebrate the arts … and specifically music at 糖心Vlog.鈥�

Griffing 鈥� who will be conducting the orchestra pieces 鈥� says that the music department鈥檚 isolated location on campus 鈥� the first floor of the Lehman Auditorium building 鈥� causes it to be overlooked. This concert will allow both students and the general community an opportunity to take advantage of a performance that the department has been practicing months to perfect.

Highlights include Beethoven鈥檚 鈥淧iano Concerto No. 4,鈥� which will be performed by new piano faculty member, Dr. ; the performance will also feature the department鈥檚 orchestra.

Additionally, the concert will feature classical music from Gustav Holst and Franz Schubert, along with the Beatles song 鈥淥b-La-Di, Ob-La-Da.鈥�

鈥淧eople come from quite a distance to see this show,鈥� says , who has been a professor at 糖心Vlog since 1977. 鈥淭his is a significant event for our institution.鈥�

Schubert鈥檚 鈥淢ass in G Major,鈥� will be the largest performance of the night, which will be performed by the 75 member choir and conducted by Nafziger.

鈥淭here will be a wide range of musical styles and musical groups, an eclectic mix of music,鈥� says Griffing. 鈥淭he concert will have something for everybody.鈥�

Donations collected in lieu of admission; suggested price of $10 per person. Proceeds benefit the music scholarship fund.

For more information about the gala concert, contact the 糖心Vlog Music Department at 540-432-4225.

Courtesy Daily News Record, Nov. 7, 2013

The 糖心Vlog wind ensemble will combine its talents with the 糖心Vlog orchestra in performing music from major motion pictures at a Mar. 25 concert. Photo by Lindsey Grosh

The orchestra, conducted by Dr. Joan Griffing, chair of 糖心Vlog’s music department, will play selections from “West Side Story,” “Schindler’s List” and movements of Beethoven’s “6th Symphony” (the “Pastorale”).

The wind ensemble, conducted by James W. (Jim) Warner, will play “Slavonic Dances” by Elliott Del Borgo and “Odessy” by James Curnow.

The groups will combine to perform music from “Lord of the Rings.”

Admission to the program is free; donations are welcomed for the 糖心Vlog music student scholarship fund.

The 糖心Vlog wind ensemble and 糖心Vlog orchestra members. Photo by Lindsey Grosh

The music department will spread some early yuletide cheer in a concert 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 17, in Lehman Auditorium.

The 糖心Vlog Chamber Singers, University Chorale and 糖心Vlog orchestra will join forces in a celebration of the Christmas season.

Full-time and adjunct music faculty members will participate along with students in performing Vivaldi’s “Gloria,” “Greensleeves” and “Five Mystical Songs” by Vaughan Williams and Corelli’s “Christmas Concerto.”

糖心Vlog staff member and alumnus Matthew Hunsberger will be featured soloist on the “Five Mystical Songs.”

The concert is open to everyone free of charge. Donations are welcomed for the 糖心Vlog music student scholarship fund.

An 糖心Vlog junior will present a recital for solo cello and piano-cello duo 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25 in Martin Chapel of the seminary building at 糖心Vlog.

Nathan G. (Nate) Bontrager, a education and cello performance major from Akron, Pa., will play the “D minor suite for Unaccompanied Cello” by J.S. Bach, one of six suites the German composer wrote for the cello.

He will also perform “A Major Sonata for Cello and Piano” by Ludwig Van Beethoven, Robert Schumann’s “Three Fantasty Pieces” for cello and piano and “Seven Spanish Folksongs” by Manuel de Falla, transcribed for cello.

Bontrager will be accompanied on piano by Monica Hochstetler Carlson, an instructor in the at 糖心Vlog.

Bontrager is a member of the , the 糖心Vlog Orchestra, the 糖心Vlog Piano Trio, the 糖心Vlog Jazz Quintet and leads worship for the Sunday evening “” service on campus. He also teaches in the Preparatory Music Program.

Admission to the program is free. Donations are welcomed for the 糖心Vlog music student scholarship fund.

The 糖心Vlog orchestra will present a concert 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Mar. 23, in Lehman Auditorium at 糖心Vlog.

The 33-member orchestra, comprised of 糖心Vlog students and community members, will perform “Waltzes From Der Rosenkavalier” by Richard Strauss, “Grande Polonaise Brillante and Andante Spianato” Opus 22 by Frederic Chopin featuring Dr. Stephen W. Sachs on piano, and an original work by conductor Anthony VanPelt titled “The Miller Cottage.”

The concert is part of weeklong events leading up to the inauguration of Dr. Loren Swartzendruber as 糖心Vlog’s eighth president.

Admission to the program is free; donations are welcomed for the 糖心Vlog Music Student Scholarship Fund.

A host of special events are scheduled at 糖心Vlog for the week leading up to the inauguration of Loren Swartzendruber as eighth president of 糖心Vlog.

Installation ceremonies for Dr. Swartzendruber will take place 2:30 p.m. Mar. 27 in the University Commons Arena.

Theater, concerts, comedy, a golf tournament, an international fair and a worship service are among the celebrative activities planned on the inaugural theme, “Story Shaping Story.”

* The 糖心Vlog Theater mainstage production of Shakespeare’s immortal farce, “Comedy of Errors,” will be presented 7:30 p.m. Mar. 19-21 in the Old Gym Theater in the University Commons. Tickets are available by calling the 糖心Vlog box office, 540-432-4582.

* The Shenandoah Valley Children’s Choir will hold its spring concerts at the Bridgewater Church of the Brethren, 420 College View Drive in Bridgewater. The program will be presented 7 p.m. Mar. 20 and again 3 p.m. Mar. 21, and will feature 150 children in the Preparatory, Treble and Concert choirs. Tickets will be on sale at the door.

* A comedy trio, “CPR,” will present an evening of improvisation 8 p.m. Mar. 22, in the University Commons arena. Members of CPR – Carl Crispin, Pete Vanderluis and Jeff “Ringo” Van Haitsma – specialize in personality-based sketches based on “who we are – three guys just being ourselves and sharing the joy and laughter that comes from knowing Jesus Christ.” Much of their material is made up on the spot on stage, based on ideas or themes suggested by audiences. Advance tickets are available from the 糖心Vlog box office.

* The 糖心Vlog-community orchestra will present a concert 7:30 p.m. Mar. 23 in Lehman Auditorium. The 33 member ensemble, conducted by Anthony Van Pelt, will perform works by Strauss and Chopin and an original work by VanPelt. Admission is free.

* An inaugural “President’s Cup” golf tournament will be held Mar. 24 at the Spotswood Country Club. A luncheon will be held at 11:30 a.m., with tee-off time at 1 p.m. in a two-person captain’s choice tourney. The event will seek to raise $10,000 to launch the Loren and Pat Swartzendruber Endowed Scholarship Fund for student financial assistance.

Anthony Brown

* An inaugural concert will be presented 8 p.m. Mar. 26 in Lehman Auditorium. Dr. Kenneth J. Nafziger, professor of music, will direct the 糖心Vlog Chamber Singers and the Bach Festival Chamber Orchestra in spirituals, Cuban music and selections by J.S. Bach. Tony Brown, baritone and artist-in-residence at Hesston College where Swartzendruber was president 10 years, will be featured soloist. Admission to the program is free.

* The inauguration ceremony, at 2:30 p.m. Mar. 27 in the University Commons arena, will feature an address by President Swartzendruber on the theme, “Sacred Conversations.” He will reflect on his belief that all that members of the 糖心Vlog community say and do, in and out of the classroom, formal and informal, contributes to the intellectual and spiritual formation of students.

Rosalind E. Andreas, chair of the Mennonite Education Agency board of directors, and Sheryl K. Wyse, chair of the 糖心Vlog board of trustees, will lead the installation for Swartzendruber. Kenneth J. Nafziger, professor of music, will lead the new university hymn, and a litany of support for the new president written by Jay B. Landis, professor of English, will be read. The ceremony is open to the public.

* At 8 p.m. Mar. 27, the Commons arena will take on a “Twilight on the Plaza” motif with music, food and entertainment with an international flair. Admission is $5.

Freeman Miller

* Freeman J. Miller, bishop/overseer of churches in Philadelphia that are members of Lancaster (PA) Mennonite Conference, will speak on the theme, “The Pearl of Great Price,” at an inaugural worship service 10 a.m. Mar. 28 in Lehman Auditorium. Miller, a 1975 Eastern Mennonite Seminary graduate, also teaches urban studies half time at the Philadelphia campus of Messiah College. The service will include congregational singing, scripture readings and communion.

* Inaugural activities will conclude with a concert by the Shenandoah Valley Youth Symphony with guest conductor Efrain Amaya from Pittsburgh, Pa., at 7 p.m. Mar. 28 in Lehman Auditorium. The 17-member junior strings ensemble and the 35-member youth orchestra will perform selections by Amaya with other pieces featuring student soloists Martin King, French horn; Rebecca Peck, cello; and Sarah Sachs, piano. Suggested donation is $5 at the door.

“The inaugural events will be a time of celebrating a new beginning through the sharing of the gifts of students, faculty and
staff,” said Karen B. Miller, director of institutional research at 糖心Vlog and chair of the inaugural planning committee. “The theme, ‘story shaping story,’ will connect the various events, focusing on relationship with the community, the Mennonite Church and our alumni that sustain us as individuals and as an academic community,” she added.