The concert by the University Choir and Emulate chamber ensemble is on Tuesday, April 10, at 7 p.m. in Martin Chapel, and is free and open to the public. Donations will support the music scholarship fund.

The program will feature works that date from as early as the 1500’s to this decade and are from across the globe.

The 37-member University Choir will be accompanied by organist John Fast on R. Vaughan Williams’ “O Clap Your Hands,” and pianist Rebekah Hade will accompany the choir on Craig Hella Johnson’s arrangement of Eliza Gilkyson’s “Requiem” and John Leavitt’s “Festival Sanctus.”

The choir will also sing “Gabí, Gabí,” a South African praise song.

Emulate will then sing nine works ranging from John Sheppard’s sixteenth century “The Lord’s Prayer” to Karl Jenkins’ 2011 “Healing Light.”

Keebaugh’s conducting has been described as “expressive, concise, insightful and sensitive,” and his choral ensembles have been invited to perform at international and national festivals, master classes, and historic locations including Emulate at the Washington National Cathedral.

His compositions have been called “innovative and hauntingly beautiful” by The Washington Post and praised as “gorgeous canvases of sacred minimalism,” and have received numerous awards and recognition including the Raabe Music Prize.

At 91����Ƶ, Keebaugh  is the music education specialist and coordinator of music theory. He conducts the choir at Grace United Methodist Church in Middletown, Virginia.

Hade is organist and pianist for the same church, and teaches music at Signal Knob Middle School in Strasburg, Virginia. .

Fast has been an active member of the 91����Ƶ music faculty since 1975, and frequently accompanies various Shenandoah Valley choral ensembles, including the .

Members of the University Choir are Shelby Alto, Folasade Arasanyin, Perry Blosser, Yoel Bobadilla, Elliot Bowen, Kaleb Branner, Chelsea Brubaker, Clara Bush, Victoria Campbell, Robert Chaplain, Mariah Denlinger, Dijuan Gilbert, Dylan Grove, Daniel Hackman, Rachel Holderman, Aaron Horst, Earnest Kiah, Hannah Marston, Hannah Menefee, Holly Mumaw, Elizabeth Nixon, Kiara Norman, Lorren Oesch, Joshua Overacker, Kathryn Pettit, Karina Pidroutchniak, Gabriel Raber, Anna Ressler, Sarah Ressler, Emma Roth, Caleb Schrock-Hurst, Kellie Serrell, James Stoltzfus, Andry Stutzman, Emily Travis, Andrew Troyer and Lucas Wenger.

Emulate includes Perry Blosser, Dijuan Gilbert, Lorren Oesch, Sarah Regan, Anna Ressler, Sarah Ressler, Emma Roth, Caleb Schrock-Hurst and Andry Stutzman.

All three choirs will perform a variety of seasonal music and Christmas carols, followed by an audience sing-along. Among the combined selections are “And Suddenly,” by Michael Engelhardt and “The First Noel,” an English carol arranged by Dan Forrest. Other selections include French carols, several other traditional English carols, and a traditional African carol.

The Concert Choir will perform more advanced pieces, including “Susanni” and “Welcome Yule” from “Salvator Mundi: A Carol Sequence,” “What Child is This?” “Still, Still, Still,” “Gaudete!” and “Hodie, Alleluia,”

The choir is joined by several guest artists, including four professors. , of 91����Ƶ, plays the violin and is concertmaster of the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival Orchestra and the Shenandoah Symphony Orchestra. Three others come from James Madison University’s music department: , cello; , flute; and , percussion. Also joining as special guests are Gregory Childress, viola; Ethan Zook, oboe; Tara Davis, violin; and Matthew Pariejko, percussion.

The choir is directed by and assisted by Joy Anderson. Pianists are Maurita Eberly and Tracey Schimmel Reed. Professor , recently retired from 91����Ƶ and longtime SVCC supporter, will play the organ.

In its 24th year, SVCC is a choral performance program at 91����Ƶ for children ages 5-18. To schedule an appointment for an audition, call 432-4650 or email svcc@emu.edu.

Editor’s note: As of Dec. 3, the concert is sold out. To be added to a wait list, call the 91����Ƶ box office at 540-432-4582 (Monday through Friday, 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m).

welcomed students, faculty, staff and guests with a summary of the summer’s events on the national, denominational and local levels, situating these events as sources of fear, unrest and anxiety, as well as of grace and hope.

“Our aspiration is to be a university community that embodies these signs of hope, nurtures their development, and provides an alternative to the fear, ignorance and violence that drives so much of human society,” he said. “We aspire to be an engaged community of learning that is bound together by love – the love of learning, the love for God as revealed in Jesus Christ, and a love for each other.”

President , who will after 13 years at 91����Ƶ, gave his final convocation speech, sharing his dreams for the future: “These are the dreams I have for you and my grandchildren: to serve as co-creators with God for a more sustainable world in which all God’s people can flourish, to be sustained by a faith that is grounded in hope not fear, and to be energized by an insatiable thirst for discovery and knowledge, not for ourselves but for the good of the world.”

He pointed to tangible actualizations of sustainability on the campus itself that he could already share with his

grandchildren: the recently revived by the student-run Sustainable Food Initiative, a new set to begin this fall, and the .

And in speaking to all in the community who mentor and support each other, Swartzendruber observed that too often Christians fall into argument or dissent, and are not exemplars of Jesus’ commandments: “love God with heart, soul, mind and strength, and our neighbors as ourselves.”

In a fitting intergenerational tribute, Swartzendruber was introduced by Student Government Association co-presidents Hanna Heishman and Rachel Schrock, and then promptly turned to introductions of honored guests and members of the 91����Ƶ community.

Those present included former presidents and ; and , former interim president, as well as Shirley Showalter, former president of Goshen College, and Laban Peachey, former president of Hesston College who was also a professor and dean at 91����Ƶ.

The event concluded with a sending of the China cross-cultural group and the traditional “Shenandoah Welcome,” during which the campus community forms two rows and new students walk between the clapping crowd to the sounds of traditional bluegrass music.

Seventeen of the 28 in the group flew in from as far as California and Texas to talk about their experiences and how the semester changed their lives. Some of the experiences were difficult, especially in the French-speaking West African country where they spent the second part of the spring term of 1994. Other experiences were exhilarating.

The group gathered during , Oct. 10-12, at the home of their faculty leaders, Carroll and Nancy Yoder. The conversation time, which went late into the night, was preceded by a pig roast next door at the home of Joel Yoder, the leaders’ son and a member of the 1994 group. The reunion included seven spouses and more than 20 children.

Carroll Yoder, a former French professor who retired about 10 years ago, recalled a night in an Ivory Coast village when the 91����Ƶ students were sitting around a fire under the starry skies. “This sure ain’t Nebraska,” said Brant Burkey, who grew up in Nebraska. Replied Kacey Bowers (now Raines) from West Virginia, swiping at the insects flying around her: “But it feels a bit like West Virginia!”

The students recalled the homes they were assigned to, sometimes with no running water and electricity – and sharing a bed with one of the family’s children.

“When you go through challenges, it makes you stronger,” said Ben Bolanos. Added Jo Wenger Fisher: “Shared experiences, especially in the face of adversity, drew us close together as a group.” Anne Charbeneau Zapanta said she had to “dig deep within herself” and that processing her experiences with her close-knit group helped a lot.

Katrina Wyse recalled vividly the night her host mother walked to a nearby clinic to give birth to a baby and then walked home before dawn with her new child. Maybe there is a connection, she said, but now she is a physician herself, delivering babies.

One student gave credit to the cross-cultural semester for the fact that he now devotes his life to Africa. Mark Schroeder is vice president of Africa analysis for in Austin, Texas. said the unforgettable experience “still permeates my life 20 years later.”

The reunion group surprised the Yoders by announcing they were donating over $2,300 in the Yoders’ honor to the .

Highlights of the weekend

This year’s Homecoming and Family Weekend also included reunions for all graduating classes ending in “4” and “9,” starting with 1964. Graduates from before that time, called “jubilee alumni,” met together for a reception and program.

91����Ƶ recognized three outstanding alumni during the weekend:

• . A pioneer in helping children with autism, he is longtime director of an autism clinic in Richmond, Virginia, and a clinical professor of psychiatry at Virginia Commonwealth University. He earned two master’s degrees and then a PhD in psychology from Virginia Tech University.

• . His lifetime of Christian service included 10 years in Saigon during the Vietnam War, refugee work in Thailand and Honduras, pastoring churches, and victim-offender reconciliation. He has a master’s degree in religious education from New York University.

• . Working as a hospital nurse, she quickly earned promotions, including director of the 150-employee emergency department at Aultman Hospital in Canton, Ohio. She has master’s degrees in both nursing and business administration from Case Western University.

91����Ƶ inducted two 2004 graduates into the Athletics Hall of Honor – Ellie Lind Holsopple in women’s soccer and Kristin Moyer Vasey in field hockey.

Other weekend events included a donor –appreciation banquet for 375 guests, a one-man theatrical presentation of C.S. Lewis’ The Great Divorce, an organ concert by recently-retired professor John Fast, a Sunday-morning worship service, an art exhibit opening, four intercollegiate games, tours of two renovated facilities, a panel discussion of retired science faculty, and departmental programs.

of Homecoming and Family Weekend events

Choirs, brass and organ

The Shenandoah Valley Children’s Choir is gearing up for their annual Christmas concerts featuring the Washington Symphonic Brass Quintet from Washington, D.C. – a third time for the amazing players to come to Harrisonburg to perform with the SVCC.

Concert dates are 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5 and 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 6 in Lehman Auditorium at 91����Ƶ. Tickets are expected to sell out for both performances.

Having collaborated twice before with Phil Snedecor and the Washington Symphonic Brass Quintet, choirs and audiences know what to expect from this ensemble – thrilling, note-perfect brass music as well as stellar musicianship. The members are all professional performers and play with ensembles including symphonies and military bands in the metropolitan area. The WSB came in 2003 and 2006 and look forward to their third time in the Valley and working with organist John W. Fast.

“It’s always a thrill working with Julia and the SVCC,” said Snedecor. “The standard Julia has set for the kids is inspiring and always makes this an exciting event for us. I can’t tell you how many great comments we receive every year about the two CDs we’ve made together. We can’t wait for the third!” (The SVCC produced “The Angel Choir and the Trumpeter” in 2004 and “Christmas Joy” in 2007.)

91����Ƶ the choir

The three performing choirs – Concert, Treble, and Preparatory – will perform separately as well as together at the Christmas concerts and will also have a chance to work with the trumpets, horn, trombone, tuba (and percussionist) that make up the group. Favorite choral/brass selections will include Carol of the Dance, which Phil Snedecor arranged for our concert in 2006. Christmas sing-alongs and hymns are also part of the program.

Other choral favorites performed by the Concert Choir will include Bob Chilcott’s Midwinter, Britten’s This Little Babe from A Ceremony of Carols, and The Angel Choir and the Trumpeter. The Treble and Preparatory choirs will sing Deck The Halls! and Sans Day Carol as well as other Christmas favorites.

Ticket information

Concert dates are Saturday, Dec. 5 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 6 at 3 p.m. All seating is reserved and tickets may be purchased through the 91����Ƶ box office at (540) 432-4582 or online at www.emu.edu/boxoffice. Presale tickets in a special reserved section are $20, regular tickets for adults $15, students & seniors (65 and older) $12, children 12 and under $7. Tickets at the door are $2 more/ticket.

Senior Bebhinn Cecilia Egger will present a violin recital 1 p.m. Saturday, Mar. 28, in Martin Chapel of the seminary building at 91����Ƶ.

Ms. Egger will perform “Concerto Op. 7 No. l by Jean-Marie LeClair, “String Quartet No. 13 by Franz Schubert, “Concerto No. 2” by Henryk Wieniawski and “Siete canciones populares espanoles” by Manuel de Falla.

She will be assisted by Monica Carlson, Maurita Eberly, Briana Eshleman, John Fast, Emily Sims and Jeremiah Vallotton.

Egger, from Front Royal, Va., is a music performance major with minors in Spanish and political studies.

Admission to the recital is free.

The Preparatory Choir, ages 8-11, the Treble Choir, ages 10-15, and the Concert Choir, ages 11-17, will present holiday and winter selections of many styles and periods.

The Shenandoah Valley Children’s Choir welcomes the holiday season with their shimmering seasonal sounds in concerts on Dec. 6 and 7.

John W. Fast, long-time friend and organist of the SVCC, will be featured instrumentalist this year, presenting several works for solo pipe organ. Mr. Fast was the original accompanist for the SVCC for eight years and has continued to play the organ for holiday concerts. He and director Julia White will dialog during the concert about the pipe organ as an educational component of the concerts. Fast will also accompany the combined choirs.

The Preparatory Choir, directed by Joy Anderson, will present Purcell’s “Come Celebrate This Happy, Holy Day” with Carol Warner, flutist, and “Christmas Comin'” by local arranger and composer, Celah Pence. The combined Treble and Preparatory Choirs, under the direction of Julia White. will present “Hine Ma Tov” and “The Angel Gabriel,” featuring child soloists Leah Wenger/Alton Hipps and Lizzie Doughty.

The Treble Choir alone will present the jazz number, “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” and a Spanish carol, “Arruru.” Andrew Richardson, professional percussionist, will accompany the choirs. The two younger choirs appeared by invitation at the Virginia Music Educators Association state conference Nov. 21 at the Homestead.

The Concert Choir will open their set with the well-loved processional, “Cuncti Simus,” a medieval Spanish Christmas with soloists Ben Elliot and Natalie Doughty, violinist Rebecca Bauer, flutist Carol Warner and Andrew Richardson, percussion.

New carols to the SVCC include John Rutter’s “Carol of the Children,” “Come Colours Rise,” a song dedicated to Desmond Tutu, and “Sunny Bank,” with the text of “I Saw Three Ships.” Favorite SVCC selections will include Bach’s “Wir eilen, mit schwachen doch emsigen Schritten,” “Carol of The Bells” and “On this Day, Earth Shall Ring” with combined choirs and pipe organ.

Children ages 2-8 will be invited to ring bells at the front of the auditorium during the sing-along section of the concert featuring familiar Christmas songs. Jingle bells are provided, and parents are welcome to accompany small children to the front of the auditorium.

Tickets for the concerts are reserved and can be obtained by calling the 91����Ƶ Box Office at 540-432-4582 between 10:30-2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Online ticket sales: www.emu.edu/boxoffice.

Ticket prices:

The SVCC’s Concert Choir will present additional Christmas concerts on Saturday, Dec. 13 in Luray, Va. Tickets can be obtained at

For more information about the SVCC, contact www.emu.edu/svcc or Judy Leaman, choir manager, at 540-432-4650.

91����Ƶ, founded in 1917, is celebrating its 90th anniversary year, and weekend activities will focus on the theme, "Celebrate the Vision."

A "Celebration of Song and Sound" will highlight the weekend’s activities. Kenneth J. Nafziger will direct a program celebrating 90 years of music at the university – from strictly a cappella hymns to incorporating instruments and varied styles. The concert will be presented twice – at 8 p.m. Friday and 8 p.m. Saturday in 91����Ƶ’s Lehman Auditorium. The program is free and open to the public.

A reception sponsored by Encore!, a music support group, will follow the program and will recognize the music leadership of John W. Fast, 32 years, and Dr. Nafziger, 30 years, respectively, at 91����Ƶ.

Reunions, Meetings and More

Traditional homecoming features will include reunions at 3:30 p.m. Oct. 13 for graduating years ending in a "2" or "7," from 1962 to 2002. The "Jubilee Alumni," persons who attended 91����Ƶ 50 years ago or more, will hold a luncheon and program at noon that day in Martin Chapel of the seminary building, where members of the class of 1957 will be formally inducted.

Breakfast meetings will be held Saturday morning for alumni and friends of the business and economics department; nursing, education, the sciences, Bible and religion (Haverim), music, (Encore!) and the language and literature department.

June Davidhizer, a 1978 alumna, will be inducted into the athletic "hall of honor" for her achievements as a four-year volleyball standout during a breakfast meeting Saturday of the Loyal Royals athletic support group. A display highlighting the first 50 years of athletics at 91����Ƶ, 1917-67, will be dedicated on the lower level of the University Commons.

Renovations and Dedications

At 10 a.m. Saturday, 91����Ƶ science faculty will give a tour of the Suter Science Center and eight learning centers and discuss plans to renovate the 40-year-old facility.

A prayer labyrinth on the hillside adjacent to Eastern Mennonite Seminary, will be dedicated at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 13. The structure was created by 1992 alumnus Kirk Shank Zehr of Harrisonburg.

An art exhibit featuring works by 91����Ƶ communication arts professors Barbara fast, Cyndi Gusler, Jerry Holsopple, Lara Scott and Steven Johnson will be on display in the third floor gallery of Hartzler Library. Media will include mixed media fiber art, drawings, photography and digital images. A gallery talk and reception will be held 2:30 p.m. Saturday.

Athletics

Varsity field hockey, women’s volleyball and men’s and women’s soccer games are scheduled on Saturday, preceded by a Loyal Royals "fun run" 7:30 a.m. Saturday at the 91����Ƶ track.

The Paul R. Yoder, Sr., Memorial Golf Classic will be held Fri., Oct. 12 with start times at 7:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. at the Spotswood Country Club in Harrisonburg.

Special activities for children (kindergarten through fifth grade) and youth (grades 6 through 9) are scheduled at various times Saturday, and childcare for infants through age 5 will be provided during reunions and at other designated times.

During the weekend, a documentary video produced by recent alumni Tiffany Horst and Carrie Keagy will be shown several times, featuring historic images and interviews that help to interpret the growth and changes that 91����Ƶ has seen over the years while remaining true to its vision, said Douglas J. Nyce, director of alumi/parent relations. "I believe that homecoming weekend will provide numerous opportunities for alumni, parents and friends of the university to celebrate and reminisce.

The registration desk in the University Commons will be open 3-8 p.m. Fri., Oct. 13, and 7:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Sat., Oct. 14.

For more information, go to , call the alumni office at (540) 432-4245 or e-mail alumni@emu.edu.

Brazilian music and culture will come center stage in two concerts presented by music department faculty and students at 91����Ƶ.

Pianist and professor Paulo Steinberg will discuss the relation between cultural elements and music of Brazil and play pieces by two Brazilian composers 7:30 p.m. Friday, Apr. 13 in Martin Chapel of the seminary building at 91����Ƶ.

Dr. Steinberg, a native of San Paulo, Brazil, will discuss the composing techniques of composers Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959) and Ernesto Nazareth (1863-1934) and play selections by both Brazilian composers. The selections range from a tango to a fusion of Bach and Brazilian elements to a cycle of native characters and landscapes.

Program Features Many

Also in Martin Chapel, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Apr. 14, students of music instructors Monica Carlson, John Fast, Joan Griffing and Paulo Steinberg will perform several styles of Brazilian music written for piano solo and piano and violin.

The program will also feature music for guitar, played by Matt Carlson, and jazz ensemble, featuring Jim Warner and Nate Bontrager.

Steinberg earned a Performer Diploma in Piano from the Conservat

The 91����Ƶ will present a faculty recital 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 7, in Martin Chapel of the seminary building at 91����Ƶ.

, harpsichordist and organist, and , violinist, will present a recital of baroque music, including pieces by J. S. Bach, Handel, Biber and Buxtehude. They will be assisted by Pedro Aponte, flutist, and Nathan Bontrager, cellist.

Dr. Griffing teaches violin and viola, coaches chamber music and conducts the 91����Ƶ orchestra. She is also concertmaster of the Shenandoah Symphony Orchestra, a member of the Virginia Symphony and violinist with the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, N.C.

This past spring, she premiered a violin concerto written for her by Terry Vosbein, composer-in-residence at Washington and Lee University. She is also a founding member of Tal Consort, a chamber music group based in the Shenandoah Valley.

She earned her bachelor and master of music degrees from Indiana University, where she studied with Tadeusz Wronski, and her DMA in violin performance from Ohio State University.

Fast, a member of the 91����Ƶ music faculty since 1975, teaches organ, piano, class piano, and music theory. He also teaches piano in the at 91����Ƶ.

Fast received a BA degree from Bethel College, N. Newton, Kan., and an MM degree from Indiana University.

An active church musician, he is currently organist and choir director at Park View Mennonite church, Harrisonburg, and previously was organist at Asbury United Methodist Church and First Presbyterian Church, Harrisonburg.

Admission to the concert is free, but donations are welcomed for the 91����Ƶ music department student scholarship fund.

The 21-member student choir, directed by Janet M. Hostetter, will perform Vivaldi’s "Gloria," accompanied by the 91����Ƶ string quartet; John Fast, organist; April Miller, oboist; Jim Warner, trumpeter; and soloists Rebeca Barge, Kirsten Getz and Sylvia Hooley.

The program will conclude with several smaller octavos, including "Hope for Resolution," a piece featuring both children and adult choirs, flute, piano, saxophone and djembe.

Hostetter is an alumna of 91����Ƶ and James Madison University where she completed a BA in music education and her MM in choral conducting. Hostetter is also director of music at Harrisonburg Mennonite Church and an elementary music educator in Rockingham County.

Admission to the program is free.

The

Teddy Bears will be invited guests when the (SVCC) presents its 12th annual Christmas concerts 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3 and 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 4, in Lehman Auditorium at 91����Ƶ.

All audience and choir members are asked to bring a new teddy bear to be sent to Long Beach, Miss., Harrisonburg’s adopted city that was demolished by Hurricane Katrina.

The Christmas concerts will feature 150 children in three choirs including the Preparatory Choir (ages 8-11), directed by Joy Anderson; the Treble Choir (ages 10-15) and the Concert Choir (ages 11-17), directed by .

The Preparatory Choir will sing "Christmas Comin’" and "The Cuckoo Carol." The combined Preparatory and Treble Choirs will sing "Sans Day Carol" and "Shalom, Friends," a Chanukah song.

The Treble Choir alone will sing a new arrangement of "Deck the Hall" and the familiar carol, "In the Bleak Midwinter."

The Concert Choir, the SVCC’s touring choir, will sing a variety of holiday songs, including Britten’s "This Little Babe" from "A Ceremony of Carols" and "Cuncti Simus," a Spanish medieval song with processional. Familiar holiday songs include "Gesu Bambino" and "The Christmas Song" (Chestnuts roasting. . .), both with soloists. Randall Thompson’s "Solstice" and Bach’s "Duet No. 15 Laughing and Shouting for Joy" will be included in the program.

The traditional Jewish folk song, "S’vivon" (Spinning Top), will be sung in Hebrew and will include violin accompaniment. A variety of child soloists will be featured in the literature as well as audience sing-alongs.

Guest instrumentalists will include 91����Ƶ faculty members and Maria Lorcas on violin, who will accompany the choir and present solo works for violin. , organist and long-time friend of the SVCC, will accompany the violinists and lead the audience in familiar carols.

Tickets are available through the 91����Ƶ box office at 540-432-4582. The box office is open 10:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday but will be closed November 24 and 25 for Thanksgiving. Reserved section seats are $12, general adult admission, $10, seniors and students $8, and children under 12, $5.

For more information contact Judy Leaman, choir manager, at 540-432-4650.

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