Tabor College Music

HILLSBORO, Kan. — Everyone is invited to attend the community-wide Thanksgiving Service and Fall Festival Concert, “With Praise and Thanksgiving”, beginning at 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 22, at the Hillsboro Mennonite Brethren Church, 300 Prairie Point, in Hillsboro, Kan.

The event is co-sponsored by Tabor College and the Hillsboro Area Ministerial Association and will feature concert performances by a variety of groups and soloists from the Tabor Music Department.  Admission is free with a donation of a non-perishable food item for Main Street Ministries. A freewill offering will also be taken for the work of the Ministerial Alliance.

“The goal of the ministerial association is for churches of the community to fellowship together and work together to meet the needs of people in our community,” said Rev. Gaylord Goertzen, chair of the ministerial association and pastor of the Ebenfeld Mennonite Brethren Church.  “Tabor College is an important part of our community and we are thrilled to have a joint Fall Festival and Thanksgiving service with Tabor.”

According to Dr. Richard Cantwell, Professor of Instrumental Music and Chair of the Music Department, the Community Thanksgiving Service has traditionally been an opportunity for members of the Hillsboro community to worship and count their blessings together. Musicians from Tabor College are eager to add their musical talents and songs of praise to this year’s festivities.

“In partnering with the Ministerial Association and the Tabor College Music Department, the celebration is energized by the broader participation of the city and the college,” Cantwell said. “The food items and offering raised will continue to support the compassionate ministries of the Ministerial Association.”

Under Cantwell’s direction, the Symphonic Band will play selections from the holiday favorite Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker Suite” with accompanying visuals. The Trombone Choir will be featured in a couple of selections, and the Handbell Choir will be playing the Christmas favorite, “Do You Hear What I Hear?”

The Concert Choir, under the direction of Dr. Brad Vogel, Professor of Choral Music, will perform a number of seasonal selections with a variety of instrumentation, including student violinists Mary Goering and Julie Wiens, oboist Corina Neufeld, and vocal soloists Kayla Vix and David Vogel.

“We are looking forward to partnering with the Hillsboro Ministerial Alliance in this concert of praise and thanksgiving,” Dr. Vogel said. “The mission of Tabor College fits well with the ministry of this organization, and allows the arts at Tabor to be both featured and a source of service in the community.”

HILLSBORO, Kan. – Four Tabor College instrumentalists have been selected to participate in the 2009 KMEA (Kansas Music Educator’s Association) College Honor Band Concert, at 2:45 p.m. Friday, Feb. 27, at Century II Concert Hall, in Wichita. The performance is free to the public.

Honor Band members are selected from college and university instrumentalists from across the state of Kansas, based on sectional and solo playing, musicianship, and dependability.

Selected to perform from Tabor College are Emily Dick (Kingman, Kan.) clarinet; Darren Enns (Hillsboro, Kan.) trombone; Corina Neufeld ((Denver, Colo.) oboe; and, Stephanie Wiens (Fresno, Calif.) flute.

“It was my honor to recommend these students and support their selection,” said Dr. Richard Cantwell, Concert Band Director and Chair of the Music Department. “The band members selected will all represent Tabor extremely well and will perform at a very professional level.”

The clinician working with the Honor Band is Dr. Peter Loel Boonshaft. Professor of Music and Director of Bands at Hofstra University, in Hempstead, N.Y., who has been called “One of the most exciting and exhilarating voices in music education today.”

Featured this year on the annual President’s Dinner, Friday, February 20, will be the men’s ensemble Cantate! and the newly formed Flute Ensemble. The men’s ensemble, Cantate! (the Italian word for “sing”), is comprised of men selected from the Concert Choir. The ensemble will perform Joseph Martin’s Come to the Music, accompanied by Will Friesen on piano and Stephanie Wiens on piccolo, and Kurt Bestor’s well known song The Prayer of the Children. Members of the ensemble are Darren Enns, Hillsboro, KS; Ben Friesen, Guthrie, OK; Will Friesen, Meade, KS; Ben Heyen, Hillsboro, KS; Justin Moore, Hillsboro, KS; Aaron Stepanek, Hillsboro, KS; Michael Suderman, Hillsboro, KS; David Vogel, Hillsboro, KS; and Brandon Voth, Lyndon, WA. Cantate! is directed by Dr. Bradley Vogel, Professor of Choral Music.

For the dinner the flutists will be performing two compositions, Dona Nobis Pacem, a beautiful melody with the original text “Grant Us Peace” and the second work the beautiful early 19th century gospel song, Thou Wilt Keep Him in Perfect Peace. Both have been arranged for the flute choir by Dr. Richard Cantwell, director of the ensemble. The flute ensembles members are from a variety of areas of study and majors across the campus. The members in the flute ensemble include: Sarah Friesen, Guthrie, OK; Katherine Gerber, Wichita, KS; Melissa Just, De Soto, KS; Alyssa King, Wichita, KS; Jenae Pauls, Inman, KS; Amy Schmidt, Corn, OK; Emily Schmidt, Bel Aire, KS; Megan Souter, Fairview, OK; Kayla Tonne, Ashland, KS; and Stephanie Wiens, Fresno, CA.