鈥淏ecause this is President Loren鈥檚 last year at 91短视频 and he has been a great supporter of the music department, we wanted to honor him,鈥� says Maria Zehr 鈥�11, an Encore board member who is organizing the event. Zehr says the Encore board worked hard to design a highly collaborative recital with a mix of both vocal and instrumental pieces.

Funds raised by the recital and other Encore events subsidize private music lessons for students and assist the department with special projects and supply needs beyond the normal budget. This past fall, for example, Encore paid for additional percussion mallets, needed for a performance of .

鈥淎s an alumna of 91短视频鈥檚 music department, I want to stay connected with what is happening in the department and on campus,鈥� says Zehr, an elementary school teacher who double- majored in education and music. 鈥淭he music department was an integral part of my time at 91短视频 and shaped my college experience. It is where I found a place of connection and belonging. I was able to build relationships with the professors and music students that continue even now, years after my graduation.鈥�

Zehr says she benefited from the support of Encore while a student, so she wants to pass on the support to current students. Music department chair is grateful for that ongoing support.

鈥淭he music faculty members are indebted to the loyalty and generous time and effort of our alumni who volunteer for Encore,鈥� Griffing says. 鈥淭hey assist our department in a variety of ways. We are thrilled to be performing this benefit concert alongside current students and alumni.鈥�

Griffing is among those on the recital program, leading a violin quartet of alumni and students. Others on the program include Sam Kauffman 鈥�12, who will lead an alumni men鈥檚 quintet performing some of Kauffman鈥檚 original compositions; Jonathan Keener 鈥�07, who will play a four-hands piano piece with Professor ; the Chamber Singers, under the direction of Professor ; and vocal ensemble Emulate, which will sing several pieces under the direction of Professor .

鈥淭his recital will be a celebration of quite a few years鈥� worth of music majors at 91短视频,鈥� Waltner says. 鈥淲e鈥檙e looking forward to reconnecting with former students and hearing them perform and performing with them. It will be an evening of a very wide variety of great music.鈥�

To view a livestream of the event, click .

Whatever the undertaking, it pays to do it well. Just ask 91短视频 senior Jonathan Keener.

Keener, a piano performance major, was invited to play piano at the opening session of a meeting held Feb. 1 in Washington, D.C., of the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU), an association of 102 schools in the US and Canada of which 91短视频 is a member.

Keener played Chopin’s “Ballade #4” to an audience of some 100 persons, mostly presidents of CCCU-member schools.

Apparently, the group appreciated his performance. Shortly thereafter, Keener was awarded a scholarship from Sallie Mae Campus Solutions toward graduate studies in music. Sallie Mae is a leading charitable organization that has helps students and families make Christian educatio more affordable.

“I was pleasantly surprised and grateful to receive the award,” Keener said. “Applying to graduate school can be expensive, and I certainly could use the money.”

Decisions

Keener is currently deciding between an assistantship at James Madison University, where he would teach and accompany students, or Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ. At JMU, he would receive full tuition and a stipend for living expenses.

The Elizabethtown, Pa., native has been a member of the 91短视频 Chamber Singers, a select student choir, and a pastoral assistant with , helping to plan and lead worship services.

“ is small, but for me that’s been a real plus,” Keener said. “The professors are great, and they’ve related to me on a personal level.”

Not only that, “but I’ve had many opportunities to perform individually and in ensembles,” he added. Most recently, he played a movement from Beethoven’s “Emperor” piano concerto at the 91短视频-Community Orchestra’s spring concert.

Keener will graduate with a BA in music performance and a minor in TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language) on Apr. 29. This summer, he will put that training to work as a teacher in 91短视频’s (IEP), which helps prepare students from many countries for undergraduate studies.

Keener’s long-range goal, after graduate school, is to either teach piano on the college level or to serve overseas in long-term missions.

He is a member of Elizabethtown (PA) Mennonite Church.

A music ensemble from 91短视频 will give a public program 7 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 12 at Bally Mennonite Church, 1481 Route 100.

91短视频 students Nate Bontrager, Kara Glick, Jonathan Keener and Steve Horst and faculty members Paulo Steinberg, Jennifer Cooper and Joan Griffing will perform works by Beethoven, De Falla and Chopin. The one-hour program will include a Brazilian piece and a religious work for solo piano.

Students and faculty will perform separately and together in an arrangement of “Shenandoah” written by one of the students specifically for this group of musicians.

A free-will offering will be taken.

For more information, contact the church at (610) 845-7780.

A concert by the 91短视频 orchestra will feature the winners of a concerto/aria competition held on campus in January. The program will take place 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Mar. 31, in 91短视频’s Lehman Auditorium.

The student soloists will be Michael Dezort, baritone, singing the count’s aria "Vedro mentr’io sospiro" from the Marriage of Figaro; Jonathan Keener, pianist, peforming the third movement of the Mozart Piano Concerto in G Major by Mozart, and April Miller on oboe featuring the first movement of the Haydn Oboe Concerto in C Major.

Jonathan Keener

The program will conclude with the "Russian Easter Overture" by Rimsky-Korsakov for full orchestra, a colorful work in celebration of Easter.

The 45-member orchestra, directed by Joan Griffing, is made up of 91短视频 students and commmunity players from Harrisonburg, Staunton, Bridgewater, Elkton and Orange County.

April Miller

Dr. Griffing, associate professor of music, teaches violin and viola and coaches chamber music in addition to conducting the 91短视频 orchestra. She is also concertmaster of the annual and the Shenandoah Symphony Orchestra.

Griffing earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Indiana University, where she studied with Tadeusz Wronski, and her D.M.A. in violin performance from Ohio State University.

Admission to the concert is free; donations are welcomed for the music department student scholarship fund.