The EMU community orchestra will present a concert 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Mar. 19, in Lehman Auditorium.

The program will feature EMU’s concerto/aria competition winners – Wieniawski "Violin Concerto in D Minor," Bebhinn Egger, violinist; Glazunov "Saxophone Concerto," Scott Beckler, saxophonist; and Offenbach’s "Doll Aria," Lena Risser, soprano; along with full orchestra performance of the rousing "Romanian Rhapsody No. 1" by Georges Enesco.

Joan Griffing

The 45-member orchestral ensemble is conducted by Joan Griffing, chair of EMU’s music department.

Dr. Griffing teaches violin and viola and coaches chamber music in addition to conducting the EMU orchestra. She is also concertmaster of the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival Orchestra and the Shenandoah Symphony Orchestra, and is a violinist with the Virginia Symphony and the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, N.C.

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

‘Hahna’ members are (l. to r.): Joshua Dean, Lena Risser, Eojin Lee and Ben Bergey. Photo by Jim Bishop

“Hahna” is a Korean word meaning “an all-encompassing unity.”

The four-member group will be at Sonnenberg Mennonite Church, Kidron, Ohio, 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 15; Columbus (Ohio) Mennonite Church 9:30 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 16; and at Pinto (MD) Mennonite Church 7 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 16.

Members are Joshua Dean, a senior business major from Harrisonburg; Eojin Lee, a church music major from Daejeon, South Korea; Lena Risser, a senior vocal performance major from Greencastle, Pa., and Benjamin Bergey, a sophomore music performance and church music major from Perkasie, Pa.

Three EMU faculty members will assist “Hahna” on the program – James Richardson, assistant professor of music; Lynne Mackey, associate professor of music; and Joan Griffing, professor of music.

The ensemble’s program will center around a theme of “love” – of friends, romantic love, music and God. They will sing hymns, Broadway tunes and classical selections, both acapella and with instrumental accompaniment on violin, viola and octave violin.

The program is open to the public. A free-will offering will be taken to help support Hahna’s program tour being planned for South Korea next summer.

Lena Risser

Ms. Risser, a soprano, will perform selections by Mozart, Donizetti and Brahms as well as some Broadway favorites, accompanied by senior Eojin Lee. She will sing three duets with students Leah Risser, Eojin Lee and Ben Bergey.

Risser, from Greencastle, Pa., is a member of the EMU Chamber Singers, an octet and Hanha, a student quartet. She is a member of Marion (PA) Mennonite Church.

Admission to the program is free. Learn more about EMU’s music programs.

Lena M. Risser, a junior vocal performance major at EMU, will give a voice recital 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 30, in Martin Chapel of the seminary building.

Ms. Risser, a soprano, will present a program on the theme, “An Ode to Love,” featuring different musical genres and styles.

She will sing selections by G.F. Handel, Henry Purcell, Charles Gounod, Jerry Bock, Stephen Schwaratz and Jerome Kern, assisted on some numbers by Eojin Lee, pianist, and guest vocalists Leah Risser and Kelsey Landes.

Risser is involved with the Sunday night “Celebration” service on campus. She is a member of the Marion Mennonite Church, Greencastle, Pa.

Admission to the recital is free. Read more about EMU’s music department…

By Heather Bowser, Daily News-Record

On Sunday, Mark Risser will graduate from ²ÝÝ®ÉçÇø.

His cousin, Elisabeth Barthlow, 22, of Cleveland, Tenn., officially received her diploma in December, but will walk across the stage this weekend with him.

Touching, but there