EMU’s Lehman Auditorium has surely seen its share of historic firsts over the years, though last week might have marked the first time a memorandum of understanding has ever been signed on its stage. 

Representatives from EMU and the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival (SVBF) advisory board, along with supporters of the festival, gathered on the auditorium stage on Thursday, Aug. 14, to celebrate the SVBF’s status as an independent 501(c)(3) organization. The event included a ceremonial signing of documents and drew more than two-dozen people.��

EMU financially sustained the annual summer festival since its start in 1993 until last year. The agreement signed last week outlines the transfer of ownership from the university to Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival Inc., which was granted tax-exempt nonprofit status in January 2025 and officially became independent from EMU on July 1. Signers included Dr. Tynisha Willingham, provost and vice president of academic affairs at EMU, and members of the SVBF executive committee: Christine Fairfield, chair; Angela Showalter, vice chair; Cara Modisett, secretary; and Fred Kniss, treasurer.��

Thursday’s ceremony provided an opportunity for donors, staff, and stakeholders to mark the momentous occasion and reflect on the history of the 33-year-old festival.

Following a piano performance of Bach’s Prelude in E major, BWV 854, from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1, from Dr. David Berry, director of the music program at EMU and artistic director of the SVBF, Professor Emeritus Dr. Kenneth J. Nafziger offered a historical perspective on the founding of the festival. 

Nafziger, a member of EMU’s music faculty for 39 years before he retired in 2017 and founding conductor and artistic director of the SVBF, shared stories from the festival’s earliest days.

In 1992, near the start of the fall semester, he was having a dinner with several EMU friends when they began asking him about his experiences conducting the Lake Chelan Bach Fest in north-central Washington that summer. “I noticed that Joe (former EMU President Joseph Lapp) was taking notes,” Nafziger shared. “When the note-taking stopped, he said, ‘What would it take to get something like that going here?’ We took him at his word…and in January of 1993, we were given the go-ahead to do a festival in June. With expert help from Helen (Nafziger), Scott Hosfeld, and Marcia Kauffman, we made the first one happen, and it included vanilla ice cream and hot raspberry sauce at intermission.”

“The beginnings of rehearsals from the second season forward resembled a family reunion,” he continued. “Local orchestral players, including JMU friends, local singers and relatives from east of the Mississippi and Canada, we grew.”

Willingham spoke about the relationship between EMU and the SVBF. “You are still a part of the EMU family and the fabric of EMU,” she said. “EMU has three core values—academic excellence, peace and justice, and active faith—and the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival exemplifies those core values.”

“We know that in our public schools, the arts have been the first things that have been cut,” she said, crediting the festival’s “pay-what-you-can” ticket pricing with allowing everyone to experience music, regardless of economic status. “The Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival is a gift. It’s been a gift to EMU for over 30 years, it’s been a gift to our community for over 30 years, and it’s been a gift to everyone who has stood on this stage.” 

Included in the memorandum of understanding is an agreement that Lehman Auditorium and Martin Chapel will continue to serve as venues for SVBF performances for at least the next three years, said Les Helmuth, interim executive director of the festival.

“What I discovered in this past year of talking with donors, businesses, and people behind the festival is that the breadth and depth of support is this wide,” he said, stretching out his arms. “It comes from all walks of life, and it’s fabulous. It really is. It’s a great community treasure, and we desperately need to keep it going.”

The Rev. Dr. Sarah Ann Bixler, dean for the Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences at EMU, delivered the blessing for the event. Other EMU representatives in attendance included Interim President Rev. Dr. Shannon W. Dycus and Kirk Shisler, vice president for advancement.

The 34th annual Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival will be held from June 8-13, 2026. Find out more at .

The Grants for Arts Projects (GAP) award will support general operations of the 34th annual Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival, which will be held in June 2026.

Les Helmuth, interim manager of the SVBF, said this marks the first time the festival has received an NEA grant. “It’s amazing to be recognized by the NEA for the quality of the artists and other key individuals involved in creating great music for the Shenandoah Valley,” he said. “It’s truly an honor to be the recipient of an NEA grant.”

Bach Festival Artistic Director and EMU Music Program Director David Berry noted that receiving support from the NEA has long been a prestigious mark of distinction for any arts organization. “We’re grateful the NEA has chosen to support the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival as we celebrate our 34th year next June,” he said. “This honor speaks to how special the festival truly is and its great legacy of beautiful music-making.”

Amanda Gookin, previous executive director of the SVBF, wrote and applied for the GAP grant. It is one of more than 1,100 GAP awards nationwide, totaling more than $31.8 million, announced by the NEA on Tuesday.

“The NEA is proud to continue our nearly 60 years of supporting the efforts of organizations and artists that help to shape our country’s vibrant arts sector and communities of all types across our nation,” said NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD. “It is inspiring to see the wide range of creative projects taking place, including EMU’s Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival.”

About the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival

The annual weeklong summer festival presents vibrant performances on the EMU campus and in Downtown Harrisonburg, Virginia, by Bach Festival Musicians and guest artists, the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival Orchestra, Baroque Academy Faculty, and Festival Choir. Learn more at:

About the National Endowment for the Arts

Established by Congress in 1965, the NEA is an independent federal agency that is the largest funder of the arts and arts education in communities nationwide and a catalyst of public and private support for the arts. Its Grants for Arts Projects (GAP) provides expansive funding opportunities to strengthen the nation’s arts and cultural ecosystem, including opportunities for public engagement with the arts and arts education, for the integration of the arts with strategies promoting the health and well-being of people and communities, and for the improvement of overall capacity and capabilities within the arts sector.

Works center around the festival theme of “Unity” and range from J.S. Bach’s Wedding Cantata to Richard Strauss’��Four Last Songs��to��Valerie Coleman’s��Umoja: Anthem of Unity��and Ernst von Dohnányi’s��Sextet in C Major, Op. 37,��said Bach Festival Artistic Director and EMU Music Program Director David Berry, a prominent pianist who will perform in the latter work in Festival Concert I.

“This year’s festival includes works that explore themes we can all relate to in our humanity, composers that are underrepresented and we don’t get a chance to hear, and pieces that bring together various different elements to create something entirely new like Antonín���ٱ���řá��’s Symphony No. 9 ‘From the New World,’” shared Berry. “I’m thrilled to welcome audiences to experience this year’s festival featuring an absolutely stellar lineup of musicians from around the world, including artists from EMU, JMU, Shenandoah Conservatory, and the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, as well as rising star performers from the Shenandoah Valley.”

Featured artists include guest conductor Deanna Tham, associate conductor of the Oregon Symphony and music director of the Union Symphony Orchestra, who will conduct Festival Concerts II and III; Benjamin Bergey, assistant professor of music at EMU and conductor of EMU’s Orchestra, Chamber Singers, and University Choir; Berlin-based soprano Sara Duchovnay, a “dynamic and expressive” vocalist who sings with “warmth and luster” (OperaWire); Penelope Shumate, who sings soprano solos with “appealing bell-like clarity and surpassing sweetness” (The New York Times); and Mexican American violinist Alejandra Switala, a top prize winner at the 2023 Sphinx Competition in Detroit, Michigan.

Other highlights include Open Mic Night at Pale Fire, which offers listeners the opportunity to hear—and mingle with—festival performers in a casual setting, and a free talk titled “Harry T. Burleigh, Antonín Dvořák, and the Symphony from the New World” by music historian, author and EMU alumna Jean Snyder ‘63 on Thursday, June 13 at 4 p.m. at Massanutten Regional Library.

At the intersection of harmony, humanity and nature, the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival gathers internationally-recognized artists and inquisitive audiences to celebrate the life and joy of great music. We like to say “Bach is just the beginning” to share our deep appreciation of the breadth of work influenced by the musical inventions of Bach. The festival began under the artistic direction of Ken J. Nafziger, professor emeritus of EMU Music, in 1993.

For tickets to the Bach Festival, visit . Tickets to Festival Concerts I, II and III at EMU’s Lehman Auditorium and to the Baroque Faculty Concert at Asbury United Methodist Church are pay what you can from $10-40 and free to college students; tickets to Festival Concerts I, II and III include pre-concert talks. Noon concerts at Asbury United Methodist Church and other on- and off-campus concerts are free for all.

Renowned balafon virtuoso Balla Kouyaté has toured extensively in Africa and Europe, performed in front of 27 African presidents, and been a featured artist in more than 45 albums. Now Harrisonburg music-lovers will have the opportunity to enjoy his unique artistry on the traditional Malian xylophone when this world-class talent and living legend takes the stage for ��ݮ����’s 2022 Gala Concert.

Kouyaté will perform with EMU ensembles for the Nov. 11 event that also features composer Nicholas Flagello’s choral masterwork “The Passion of Martin Luther King,” dedicated to the civil rights icon.

The concert begins at 7 p.m. in Lehman Auditorium and will also be livestreamed on . The concert is free, with to help support the EMU music program.

The concert is themed “Truth and Light.”

“So often truth and light go hand in hand. That is something that Dr. King taught all of us,” said Professor David Berry, music program director. Our program begins with Flagello’s immense and rarely performed choral masterwork, which shares King’s words with emotion and power. With the orchestra and chorus, we’ll also tell the story through video images and photographs. This part of the concert emphasizes the importance, poignancy, and beauty of truth. After the choral work has finished and Balla takes the stage with our ensembles, it will be pure joy and light. We need both of these in our world, the power of truth and the hope of light.”

Berry called the concert “a rare chance to experience the gifts of a tremendous musician who is also an important figure in world music history.”

Kouyaté comes from an 800-year long family line of performers on the traditional Malian xylophone, or balafon. The first instrument of its kind, over 1000 years old, remains in his family, and is considered a UNESCO Artifact of Oral and Intangible History.

His energetic and joy-filled performances featuring both traditional music of Mali, as well as fusion performances with bands and orchestra, have thrilled audiences throughout the world. 

In 2019, Kouyaté was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowship, the highest form of recognition for the folk and traditional arts by the United States government. He has performed in many festivals and the most famous venues across Europe and the United States. He has given lectures, demonstrations and master classes in universities and schools across the country, including Harvard University, MIT, Berklee School of Music and CalArts.

Kouyaté will perform with the EMU orchestra and Shenandoah Valley Youth Symphony, EMU Jazz band, and EMU Chamber Singers.

American composer Nicholas Flagello was moved to compose “The Passion of Martin Luther King” in 1968 as a response to King’s assassination. The piece is inspired by two of Johann Sebastian Bach’s most celebrated works, “St. Matthew’s Passion” and “St. John’s Passion” which are musical retellings of the events leading to Jesus’ crucifixion.

Kouyaté will visit schools around the valley in a unique collaboration with Any Given Child-Shenandoah Valley. The EMU music program is a premier artist partner with the Kennedy Center-sponsored arts education nonprofit. Read more about this partnership.

“Many partnerships with the local and broader arts ecosystem have helped to make this concert we have dreamed of come true,” said Berry. “We’re thankful for organizations like the Shenandoah Valley Preparatory Music Program, Shenandoah Valley Children’s Chorus, and the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival as well as Any Given Child-Shenandoah Valley for helping us to host this event.”

Past gala concerts: A tradition of excellence

• THE STRING QUEENS: View photos from the 2021 event featuring The String Queens. That same year, the trio headlined the presidential and vice-presidential inauguration celebration and of Wimbledon tennis tournament.

• THE STEEL WHEELS and APPALASIA: View a .

• JANINAH BURNETT: View and a photoessay of the 2019 event with Burnett, then starring on Broadway in Phantom of the Opera.

“Daniel’s superb musicianship, communicative and expressive presence at the podium, and his wonderful way with people made me know he is the right person to lead our orchestra this season,” said SVBF Artistic Director David Berry, who begins his first season in the new role after taking over from festival co-founder Ken Nafziger.

The first festival concert will be conductor-less and orchestra-led this year. Myssyk will lead Festival Concerts II and III.

Benjamin Bergey, director of orchestra and choirs at ��ݮ����, will serve as assistant conductor. Bergey has participated in the festival for many years in a variety of roles, and is a protégé of Nafziger. As assistant, Bergey will lead the Leipzig service and serve as cover conductor this summer.

More About Daniel Myssyk

Assistant conductor of the Richmond Symphony, Canadian-American conductor Daniel Myssyk was music director of the Montreal-based Orchestre de chambre Appassionata from 2000 to 2016.

In recent years, he has made critically acclaimed appearances with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, and the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra, among others. In 2015, Myssyk made his debut in Guanajuato (Mexico) where he has been returning almost every season since. In 2019, return engagements have brought him back to Canada to conduct the Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières and the Orchestre de la Francophonie.

Myssyk conducts repertoire from the classical, romantic, modern and contemporary periods with great attention to stylistic details. He maintains a continuous engagement with opera in a variety of styles ranging from Mozart to Menotti. He has contributed to the creation of many contemporary North-American works, including the world-premiere of Anthony Brandt’s opera, “The Birth of Something” with Da Camera in Houston.

Myssyk’s recordings have received widespread critical acclaim. His CDs “Czech Serenades” with works by Suk and Dvořák, and “Idyla” (on Fidelio label) were nominated for best recording of the year at the ADISQ awards, Quebec’s equivalent of the Grammys and at the Prix Opus from the Conseil québécois de la musique. A CD featuring American trumpet player and internationally renowned Rex Richardson playing Dana Wilson’s “Concerto for Trumpet and Strings” was released on Summit Records, earning rave reviews from the International Trumpet Guild Journal. His most recent CD, on the Atma label, features works by Quebec composer François Dompierre and has earned excellent reviews from Radio-Canada and Magazine Son et image.

Myssyk has been Virginia Commonwealth University’s Director of Orchestral Activities since 2007. Under his leadership, three VCU Opera productions of “The Gondoliers” (2015), “The Old Maid and the Thief” (2012), and “Hansel & Gretel” (2011) won top prizes at the National Opera Association competition.

His involvement toward the youth reflects a well-honed passion for music education. In addition to his work at VCU, he is a regular collaborator with Senior Regional Orchestras throughout Virginia, among others. He was appointed conductor of the Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra in 2018.

In the early 2000s, Myssyk was a conducting fellow at the Aspen Music Festival and School where he spent two summers under the tutelage of David Zinman. A student of Larry Rachleff, he received his Masters Degree in Conducting from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University in 2006.

More about Benjamin Bergey

Benjamin Bergey is an energetic and passionate musician, whose conducting has been described as “captivating” and “communicative.” He is a conductor, professor, and church musician. As assistant professor, he conducts the Orchestra, Chamber Singers, and University Choir, as well as teaches music theory and conducting. He also advises the new music and peacebuilding major.

He is an active musician who currently conducts the Rapidan Orchestra in Orange, Virginia. He completed his doctorate and masters at James Madison University in Orchestral Conducting, where he conducted the Symphony and Chamber Orchestras, as well as the Opera Orchestra, conducting performances of Rossini’s Barber of Seville and Puccini’s La Boheme.

Additionally, Bergey is a prominent music leader in the Mennonite Church, having recently served as director of music at Harrisonburg Mennonite Church for six years, and notably as music editor for Voices Together, the hymnal for Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Church Canada, as well as compiler and editor for the hymnal’s Accompaniment Edition. He regularly leads worship and resourcing events at assemblies, workshops, and conferences, and is the music planner for the 2022 Mennonite World Conference Assembly music and songbook. His doctoral research focused on how ensemble music is a tool in peacebuilding by bringing diverse people together for building empathy and dialogue, using two groups in Israel and Palestine as examples.

Theater and music programs at ��ݮ���� received this spring from the Arts Council of the Valley. The grants cover projects to be completed by October 31, 2022.

Professors Jerry Holsopple and Justin Poole received funding to present “Bonhoeffer: Cell 39,” a multi-media performance on the life and legacy of Dietrich Bonhoeffer at Court Square Theater, in March 2022.

Executive Director Amanda Gookin earned one of three Arts for Education grants. “’Book Notes’ is a musical storytelling hour Saturday, June 18 at 1 p.m. at Massanutten Regional Library. The event features a reading by Joanne V. Gabbin, professor at James Madison University and founder of the Furious Flower Poetry Center, along with performances by five Bach Festival musicians and opportunities for children to participate through dance and singalongs. Book Notes is one of several concerts offering during festival week June 12-19.

The Shenandoah Valley Children’s Choir and director Janet Hostetter received funding for “The Shapes of Home,” a YouTube video combining the musical talents of the choir with the creative talents of Australian composer Dan Walker and Pennsylvania quilt artist Nancy Hershberger.

Yi-Ping Chen, conductor of the Shenandoah Valley Youth Symphony, and her group Caravanserai Music earned funding for a project presenting music for the Latinx Community.  

The organization has awarded a total of $15,174 to 12 Advancing the Arts grant recipients.  

“Advancing the Arts grants invest in the vital arts infrastructure of our community,” ACV Executive Director Jenny Burden said. “These awards tangibly express ACV’s continuing commitment to creative projects designed to cultivate the arts and connect communities.”

More than $436,000 has been awarded to artists and art educators since ACV launched the program in 2001. Programs are supported, in part, by 2022 Cultivating the Arts Platinum Sponsors: Kathy Moran Wealth Group, Matchbox Realty, and Riner Rentals.

Since it was established in 2000, ACV has grown into a multi-faceted community organization that fosters innovative partnerships among area businesses, civic organizations, schools, and artists. Today, ACV manages Court Square Theater and Smith House Galleries, funds local art projects grant program, and coordinates monthly First Fridays of the Valley community gatherings. ACV is supported in part by the City of Harrisonburg, Rockingham County, and the Virginia Commission for the Arts, which receives support from the Virginia General Assembly and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. To learn more, visit valleyarts.org.

The Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival (SVBF) celebrates two monumental occasions: its 30th anniversary and the retirement of founder and artistic director Ken Nafziger after 30 years of leadership.��

The festival, held from June 12-19, will include three Festival Concerts, free noon recitals, a workshop from internationally acclaimed Virginia Baroque Performance Academy, and much more. Kicking off the festival in Lehman Auditorium is the first Festival Concert on Sunday, June 12 at 3 p.m. 

The opening festival concert includes the classic Brandenburg Concertos 1 and 3 by J.S. Bach; a trombone concerto by Nino Rota featuring SVBF artist Jay Crone; and a fun and creative Beatles-inspired suite by Cuban composer Leo Brouwer featuring guitarist Michael Partington.

The June 18 concert will feature the Mass in B Minor by J.S. Bach. Nafziger will conduct this monumental work as his Bach Festival farewell, according to Executive Director Amanda Gookin. “As Bach’s final work marks a lifetime of faith and music, so does this concert represent the cumulative impact Ken has made on the arts in our community.”

Tickets are pay-what-you-can from $10-40 for the three Festival Concerts and the Baroque Faculty Concert. All seating is general admission. Purchase through the EMU Box Office. Door sales and will-call opens two hours before each event. Tickets for EMU and JMU students are free with proof of ID. Masks are required to attend.

Free concerts include a children’s concert and poetry reading at the Massanutten Regional Library in Harrisonburg, the Noon Chamber Music Series, held Monday through Friday at Asbury United Methodist Church, and the Leipzig Service on Sunday, June 19, at 11 a.m. in Lehman Auditorium.

This year’s include pianist and incoming artistic director David Berry, soprano Veronica Chapman-Smith, trombonist Jay Crone, countertenor Patrick Dailey, baritone John Fulton, tenor Kenneth Gayle, soprano Michele Kennedy, and guitarist Michael Partington. Berry is an assistant professor and chair of EMU’s Music Department.

In addition to the featured performers, the Virginia Baroque Performance Academy, founded and directed by , will offer a concert by its internationally acclaimed artist faculty, and another by students from its SVBF session. will perform chamber music, and also the Antonio Caldara “Il Giuoco del Quadriglio” (The Card Game) will be staged.

The event is Saturday, April 30, from 6-9 p.m. at Magpie Diner & The Perch in downtown Harrisonburg. 

Tickets are “pay what you can” from $10-$40. Kids get in free! All proceeds benefit the 30th annual Bach Festival from June 12-19, 2022.

The includes performances by Trent Wagler (clawhammer banjo and guitar), Isaiah Chapman (baroque viola), Isabel Lepanto Gleicher (flute), Spectator Bird (sister-folk duo), and Invoke, a bluegrass string quartet coming all the way from Austin, Texas.

You can also support the Bach Festival by bidding in an online auction, open from April 25-May 6, featuring hot items like a private factory tour of Route 11 Potato Chips, a classic wooden speedboat tour, one-of-a-kind 30th year commemorative quilt, a two-night stay at the Tabard Inn, an original stained glass creation by ZN Stained Glass, and much more! .

Dec. 9: A Bach Festival Christmas

The Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival hosts “A Bach Festival Christmas” featuring soprano Jessica Spafford, pianist David Berry, violinist Domenic Salerni, and bassist Sam Suggs performing a festive musical mix of classical, jazz, and holiday classics. Listeners can participate in a group sing led by SVBF Artistic Director Ken Nafziger.

The concert will be Thursday, Dec. 9, at 7:30 p.m. in Martin Chapel, Eastern Mennonite Seminary. View the event announcement for more information.\

Here is the

Dec. 13: Lighting of the Green, 4:30 p.m.

Faculty, staff, students, retirees and family members are invited to attend the annual Lighting of the Green Ceremony on the Front Lawn. The EMU Jazz Ensemble will perform beginning at 4:40 p.m. A short ceremony with the EMU Chamber Singers and a tree lighting begins at 5 p.m. (This event will not be livestreamed.)

Dec. 13: Christmas Lessons & Carols service, 7 p.m.

The community is welcome to the annual Christmas Lessons & Carols service on Monday, Dec. 13 at 7 p.m. in Lehman Auditorium. Music will be provided by the EMU music department. A freewill offering will benefit the Faith and Spiritual LIfe Compassion Fund. Masks are required.

The event will also be livestreamed on  page.

The concert will be Thursday, Dec. 9, at 7:30 p.m. in Martin Chapel, Eastern Mennonite Seminary, on the ��ݮ���� campus. This popular annual concert is free and open to the public; ticketing for this event is pay-what-you-can from $10-$40. There is a free option for those in financial hardship this holiday season. A reception will follow the performance. Families and children are welcome!

Masks are required to attend the concert, following current university policy. 

Jessica Spafford

Coloratura soprano Jessica Spafford has had success both nationally and abroad as a performer and pedagogue and currently serves as visiting assistant professor of music in voice and theory at Emory & Henry College. Additionally, along with her colleague Joshua Boggs, she is a founding associate artistic director of AppOpera, a new opera company the duo started in the Tri-Cities region.

Spafford earned her doctorate in music performance, pedagogy, and literature from James Madison University in 2017. Since then, she has taught courses at James Madison University, Mary Baldwin University, Bridgewater College, ��ݮ����, and the University of Alabama. In August 2018, she joined the faculty at Judson College as an Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Study Abroad and later became the Head of the Music Department in 2019. While there, she taught voice lessons, vocal pedagogy, music history, music appreciation, vocal literature, choir, music theory, sight-singing, and ran the opera workshop program.

Spafford also maintains an active performing schedule. Aside from being an avid recitalist and master class clinician, in 2018 she presented and sang the U.S. premiere of Lauren Spavelko’s song cycle Baby Book at the Music by Women Festival, the world premiere of songs by Larry Taylor at the Bridgewater Poetry Festival, was a featured soloist for songs by Bernstein and excerpts from Candide with the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival, collaborated on an operatic concert project with the Bronx opera, and was a Guest Artist for the 38th Annual Contemporary Music Festival honoring Libby Larsen at James Madison University. Dr. Spafford has served as the soprano soloist on Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Schubert’s Mass in G with the Shenandoah Chamber Society, on songs by Elizabeth Raum and Stephen Hartke—both with the composers in residence—and as Gretel in Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel with Luray Opera. In June 2016, she performed in Dresden, Germany, having been recruited to sing the Queen of the Night with the Radebeul Landesbühnen Sachsen Theater in their production of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte.

Previously, she won the Columbus Opera’s young singer competition while at Ohio Wesleyan University and performed with the Central Ohio Symphony Orchestra. She earned her Master of Music degree from Duquesne University, where she studied with Sari Gruber. 

David Berry

A native of Syracuse, NY, pianist David Berry is associate professor and chair of the music deparment at ��ݮ����. has peformed in venues such as Carnegie Hall, The Kimmel Center, Merkin Hall, as well as live broadcasts of WQXR (New York City). As a performer of new music, he has worked with or premiered works by a number of noted composers, including James Lee III, Adolphus Hailstork, and Jennifer Higdon. David was a featured soloist in the Juilliard School’s Focus Festival, All About Elliott, celebrating the 100th birthday of Elliott Carter.

An avid chamber musician, Berry has collaborated with members of many of the nation’s leading orchestras, including the New Jersey, Houston, St. Louis, Dallas, and Seattle symphonies. He is a resident member of the Jacksonville, Florida-based Ritz Chamber Players, The Harlem Chamber Players, and the innovative chamber music theater group, the Core Ensemble.

In addition to his work on the concert stage as a performer, Berry serves as co-coordinator of chamber music and on the Artistic Programs Committee for the Gateways Music Festival at the Eastman School of Music, a biennial festival which celebrates the contributions of musicians of African descent to classical music, and features over 120 players from major American orchestras and university faculties across the United States. Berry is also a frequent adjudicator, masterclass clinician, and presenter, whose work often focuses on utilizing multi-style improvisation and creating original piano arrangements. David’s work in these fields has been featured at institutions and organizations such as the University of Georgia, the University of Memphis, Wheaton College Conservatory of Music, Grand Valley State University, and the Virginia Music Teachers Association, with upcoming engagements with the Utah Music Teachers Association, and Dallas Music Teachers Association.

Berry received his Bachelor of Music with High Distinction from the Eastman School of Music, and Masters and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in piano performance from the Juilliard School.

Domenic Salerni

Violinist Domenic Salerni is a member of the New York-based Grammy Award-winning Attacca Quartet. He is also a member of the Chiarina Chamber Players, based in Washington, DC, and is active as a chamber musician, clinician, composer, and arranger.

Salerni has recorded four new albums in his time with Attacca Quartet, of which “Real Life,” a collaboration with, and exploration of, electronica artists produced by Snarky Puppy’s Michael League, released in July on Sony Classical. “Of All Joys,” a celebration of minimalist music and music from the Renaissance, is set to release this November. Attacca recently performed with Caroline Shaw at the “Strings of Autumn” Festival at the DOX Theatre in Prague, Czech Republic, and played an all-Shaw program as a special event presented by the Thüringer Bachwochen in Weimar, Germany.

As a member of the Chiarina Chamber Players, Salerni was a recipient of a 2020 Chamber Music America Classical Commissioning Grant and will perform a new work by composer Carlos Simon with Peabody Conservatory bass faculty Carl DuPont in April 2022. In 2020, as part of his response to the COVID-19 outbreak, Domenic helped set up the Philadelphia Musicians Relief Fund as part of AFM Local 77’s efforts to provide for its community of musicians in times of need. The Fund has raised over $100,000 and is now fiscally sponsored by CultureWorks of Greater Philadelphia.

In 2019, Domenic performed his original film accompaniment to Giuseppe de Liguoro’s “Dante’s Inferno” as part of a consortium between the Film Studies, French and Italian Department, and the Center for Creativity and the Arts at Emory University. He continues to compose and arrange, and this summer a one-movement string quartet, “Trilobites,” after a short story by Breece D. J. Pancake, was premiered at the first inaugural Appalachian Chamber Music Festival in Harpers Ferry, WV.

Domenic was the first violinist of the Dalí Quartet, quartet-in-residence at West Chester University of Pennsylvania from 2016-2020, and was the recipient of the Atlanta Symphony Talent Development Program’s Aspire Award in 2019. He holds degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music, and the Yale University School of Music. Past awards include ArtsATL’s “30 Under 30” Award, the Yale Chamber Music Society Award, the Phyllis Curtin Career Entry Award, Finalist of the Sion-Valais International Violin Competition, and Finalist of the M Prize as a member of the band Foundry.

Sam Suggs

Applauded by The Strad for his “brilliant and compelling programming,” and by the Oregon Arts Watch for his “mind-boggling” performance of original compositions, Sam Suggs was the first double bassist in a generation to win the Concert Artists Guild solo competition and has received first prize at the International Society of Bassists 2015 Solo Competition as well as awards at the Bradetich Foundation 2017 International Solo Double Bass Competition.

As a collaborative bassist, he has performed at the Mostly Mozart Festival, Yellow Barn, Chamber Music Northwest, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and alongside PUBLIQuartet, the Dover, Escher, Rolston, and Argus Quartets.

A native of Buffalo, Sam spends his time between the Northeast and the Shenandoah Valley performing with various chamber, crossover, and contemporary groups, and serving on the faculty of James Madison University and the Heifetz Institute.

About the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival

At the intersection of harmony, humanity, and nature, the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival gathers internationally-recognized artists and inquisitive audiences to celebrate the life and joy of great music. We like to say “Bach is just the beginning” to share our deep appreciation of the breadth of work influenced by the musical inventions of Bach.

Nestled in beautiful Harrisonburg, Virginia, on native Manahoac land in the Shenandoah Valley, our annual week-long summer festival presents vibrant performances on the ��ݮ���� campus and downtown by local artists, the Shenandoah Valley Chamber Orchestra, Baroque Academy Faculty, and Festival Choir. Listeners can attend large and small performances of orchestra and chamber music, family and kids events, poetry readings, music talks, and immersive musical experiences in our parks and nature preserves.

Our immersive educational initiatives strive to build a more equitable and inclusive future in the performing arts. Each year we bring young musicians and aspiring arts administrators together to participate in our Young Arts Leaders program and perform as Orchestra Fellows. Musicians of all ages and levels have the opportunity to learn historically informed performance practices in our Baroque Workshop with renowned early music faculty.

The Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival is a program of ��ݮ���� and we are proud to share the university’s commitment to peace-building, social justice, cross-cultural engagement, and sustainability in the arts.

He will be succeeded in his role as artistic director by ��ݮ���� professor and music program director David Berry. Berry is an accomplished pianist who has performed in the festival since 2017 and brings artistic leadership experience from EMU as well as other organizations. A part of Berry’s role as artistic director will be to lead the search for the conductor of the festival for the 2023 summer festival.

“The Bach Festival is grateful to Ken for his many years of vision and inspiration,” said Amanda Gookin, executive director. “He is one of the most special leaders I know and it has been a deeply meaningful experience working together. I look forward to celebrating Ken to the fullest in our 30th season. I am absolutely thrilled the artistic leadership will pass on to David Berry whose artistic excellence and innovative voice will carry forth the legacy of the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival.”��

Nafziger expressed support for Berry in his new role and the festival’s strong future. “With David in place as the new artistic director, the festival is in a good place for its development. He is a well-known musical presence here in the Shenandoah Valley, and an active supporter of and performer in the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival. David has all the right qualifications, imagination, enthusiasm, a field of wide musical acquaintances who can grace this festival, all the right stuff for a position like this. I stand ready to be of support and assistance as he finds his way and leads this festival with competence in the years ahead.”

Nafziger will contribute his final time as the artistic director and conductor for the 30th anniversary celebration June 12-19, 2022, on the campus of ��ݮ���� and in area venues in Harrisonburg. 

Audience members can expect “world-class performances,” Gookin said, with works by Johannes Brahms, Florence Price, contemporary composer Leo Brouwer, and the great B Minor Mass by Johann Sebastian Bach among others.��

The celebration will be poignant for Nafziger, who has long said the furious pace of the summer festival was one of his favorite times of every year.

“The Bach Festival at 30 is a myriad of wonderful memories: the community that came to be around the festival, working intensely with local musicians and many from farther away, so many great musical moments, soloists from near and far, appreciative audiences, and the fatigue of doing nothing but what one would most like to do for ten days every June,” he said. “To everyone who listened, who played, who sang, who supported, who encouraged, you are owed many and heartfelt thanks.”

Berry, who has participated in the festival since joining the faculty of EMU, praised Nafziger and festival leadership. 

“It is my absolute honor to join the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival as its next artistic director,” Berry said. “Ken and the leadership of the festival have done a wonderful job of creating a truly unique and beautiful festival. As we celebrate the 30th anniversary and legacy of the festival this year, I am excited to begin the work of looking toward the future and exploring the possibilities of what the next chapter may hold.”

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Berry maintains a rigorous schedule of teaching, performing, adjudication and artistic direction, including as the coordinator of chamber music and member of the artistic planning committee for the Gateways Music Festival. The festival is hosted by Berry’s undergraduate alma mater Eastman School of Music and celebrates the contributions of musicians of African descent to classical music, and features over 120 players from major American orchestras and university faculties. Berry earned his master’s and Doctor of Musical Arts degree from The Juilliard School. 

Nafziger, a professor emeritus of music at EMU, plans to continue other musical involvements, including as music director of the chamber choir Winchester Musica Viva in Winchester, Virginia. He has a long history of working with many of Cuba’s premier orchestra and choral ensembles, including guest conducting appearances, teaching master classes, and participating with musical colleagues in a number of joint projects. Nafziger’s work in church music is widely known across many denominations. He has edited or assisted in editing three hymnals, producing correlated teaching materials and recordings for those hymnals, and co-wrote a book on the significance of singing among Mennonites. He is a frequent guest conductor, workshop leader, and clinician across the United States and Canada.

Nafziger was honored in 2015 with the Circle of Excellence in the Arts Award for sustained contributions in the arts and his creative and superior accomplishments that have improved the cultural vitality of the Shenandoah Valley. The award is given by the Forbes Center for the Performing Arts, the Arts Council of the Valley, and the College of Visual and Performing Arts at James Madison University.

MORE ON KEN NAFZIGER 

Read a profile of Ken Nafziger on his retirement from EMU.

Read more about this 2015 awards presentation.

The Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival season kicks off with the “Spring Into Bach” virtual concert on April 29 at 7:30 p.m. Eight artists hailing from the valley to New York City will perform Bach, Americana, original storytelling, and everything in between. Read more about the artists below.

The event will be emceed by Kimberlea Daggy, the host of “All Things Considered” on WMRA, the NPR news station for Charlottesville and the Shenandoah Valley. Daggy also hosts “Airplay,” a program highlighting local, classical musicians and ensembles on WEMC, Harrisonburg’s all-classical station.

Tickets are $15, and pre-registration is required by 4 p.m. the day of the concert.

“I’m thrilled to bring these amazing artists together for an intimate evening of conversation, spoken word, and music,” said Amanda Gookin, executive director of the festival. “The sunny side of virtual performance is it provides wider access for people to attend events all over the world. Each of these inspiring artists exude an incredible level of creativity, artistry, and passion in their work. I hope many viewers in the Shenandoah Valley and beyond will tune in – this is an event not to miss!”

This exhibition also features to benefit the Bach Festival that will be open from April 26 to May 10. Available items include handcrafted furniture, a portrait photography session, massages, and a week-long stay at an arts-and-recreation retreat in upstate New York. 

The featured artists are:

• , violist. Arnold is the director of artistic planning and orchestral operations of the Richmond Symphony. Previously, she spent 14 years playing viola with the Oregon Symphony in Portland, where she also taught private lessons and led the Oregon American String Teachers Association.
• Americana duo. Singer Maria Clymer and guitarist Christopher Kurtz were 2019 recipients of the Advancing the Arts Creative Inspirations grant from the Arts Council of the Valley.
• cellist. Elliott is a 2021 Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient and has soloed with the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra, New World Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, and many more. He also performed at the 2019 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. 
• poet. Gabbin is the founder and executive director of the Furious Flower Poetry Center, the first and only academic center devoted to Black poetry. She is also a professor of English at James Madison University, founder and organizer of the Wintergreen Women Writers’ Collective, and owner of the 150 Franklin Street Gallery.
• composer. Guinivan’s music has been performed across the U.S., Europe, and Asia. He has received commissions from Chamber Music America, the Fromm Foundation at Harvard University, New York Youth Symphony, and many more. He was a founding member of the GRAMMY-nominated Los Angeles Percussion Quartet.
• pianist. Li has performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and many other notable venues across the globe. Her many awards include the 2017 New York Concert Artists Worldwide Debut Audition, Astral Artist’s 2016 National Auditions, the Grieg International Competition in Norway, and the unanimous 1st Prize at the Concours Musical de France.
• author. Showalter published her first book, a memoir titled Blush: A Mennonite Girl Meets a Glittering World in 2013. Her second, The Mindful Grandparent: The Art of Loving Our Children’s Children, is forthcoming in May 2022. Previously, Showalter was a professor of English and then president at Goshen College, and vice president of programs at The Fetzer Institute.
• violinist. Tekalli is a top-prize winner of the Seoul International Music Competition, and a prize winner in the Sendai International Music Competition, International Violin Competition “Rudolfo Lipizer Prize,” and Henryk Szeryng Music Festival. He has performed throughout the U.S., Canada, Central America, Europe, and Asia.

A new series of multifaceted music colloquia kicks off at ��ݮ���� this semester. The series brings in a flutist from the Houston Symphony, a performance psychologist from Juilliard, and a Carnatic musician-turned-neuroscientist.

Each presentation will be livestreamed at 12:20 p.m. on .��

“Since everything is virtual, it is a wonderful opportunity to bring many more great artists from around the nation and even around the globe to our students,” said Professor David Berry, director of the music department. “It is not every year that we can bring such a diverse array of top-rate artists and presenters to our students in one semester.”

The colloquia will include a mix of students performing for and learning from the guest artists, interviews, and lectures. 

“We have found these combined modes of presentation to be very engaging for everyone no matter the spectators’ area of musical specialty,” Berry said.

• Feb. 25 – , a flutist with the Houston Symphony, the Greenbriar Consortium, the Ritz Chamber Players, and the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra. “Ms. Dines is an excellent orchestral and chamber musician, with a wealth of experience,” Berry said. Her colloquium will include an interview and a masterclass, in which Dines will coach EMU sophomore Samuel Soste-Taffur following his flute performance.��
• March 25 – , PhD, a performance psychologist, Juilliard professor, and violinist. Kageyama’s presentation will focus on dealing with performance anxiety and performing at one’s best under pressure. Berry said he “has become one of the most respected and sought-after experts in the field of performance psychology for musicians.”
• April 15 –��, PhD, an Indian Carnatic classical musician and neuroscientist at Harvard Medical School’s Massachusetts General Hospital. Navaratna “is a true cultural entrepreneur who combines expertise in music and medicine,” Berry said. She’ll speak on her career and some of the musical traditions of India.
• Cellist Amanda Gookin, executive director of the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival, began the series in early February.

The reins of the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival at ��ݮ���� (EMU) have been passed to the very talented hands of a new leader – , a Grammy-nominated cellist, educator, and activist. Gookin replaces David McCormick, who served as the festival’s executive director for the last four years, and recently accepted the directorship of the Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival. 

Coming from New York City, Gookin directs the new music ensemble at the SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Music and teaches at the New School College of Performing Arts. She is also the founder of PUBLIQuartet – a string quartet she performed with for 10 years. The group was nominated for a in January 2020.

“Amanda is both an accomplished musical artist and a proven arts administrator, and she has demonstrated commitment to the important role that music can play in social and community development,” said Provost Fred Kniss. “This combination of qualities makes her an ideal leader for the next chapter in the Bach Festival.”

While Gookin’s accolade-studded career has given her many different roles, she said she doesn’t see a separation between her performance, work in education, and activism.

“In my musical life as a cellist, I’m very much involved in musical activism: upholding values of equity, justice and inclusion in my work, which then is put into my teaching when I talk to students about their value systems and the history of classical music and contemporary music,” Gookin said.

Musical activism, to her, means “ensuring everyone’s voice is heard, understanding power structures, and creating a community around art and activism that gets everybody involved in the artistic process.

While classical music was born of white European composers, Gookin explained that “there is a lot of music that has been left out of the history books, like music by women, LGBTQ+,��and Black composers, and it’s overdue to give voice to them.” As part of this musical activism, Gookin founded the Forward Music Project in 2015. It began, she said, as a solo cello project. She commissioned seven women to write music for her to perform in whatever style the composers chose.

She received compositions that blurred the line between classical performance and performance art: “visceral stories” that included spoken word, acting, or playing percussion with her feet. 

“I love to perform all kinds of music,” Gookin said, but she particularly enjoys “premiering a work that nobody’s heard before.”

Gookin brings that same mold-breaking energy to the Bach Festival, scheduled for June 13-20, 2021. While the pandemic, most likely, will not be entirely behind us next summer, she has creative ideas about presenting a safe and engaging festival.

“I’m really up for this challenge,” she said. “I think it’s going to be really exciting, because if the pandemic has done anything, it’s encouraged people to become innovative in the way they present music.”