The concert, which is Sunday, March 22, at 4 p.m. in Lehman Auditorium, includes music composed by alumnus Anthony VanPelt, a local musician, composer and teacher, and several alumni musicians joining the ensemble. Alumni, parents of alumni and past conductors of the symphony will be recognized, with a reception following. A $7 donation in support of the youth symphony is requested.

The Youth Symphony includes 42 members with students from Rockingham, Augusta, Shenandoah, and Page counties as well as West Virginia. The Junior Strings ensemble is an intermediate-level group with 13 members from Harrisonburg and Rockingham County.

Both groups are part of , which was started by Wanda Teague Alger`81 in her local music store. It became a part of the university鈥檚 in 1989. The orchestra formed in 1990, partly funded by a grant from the .

For two women who have been involved in the program for years, the opportunity is especially unique.

鈥淚t is rewarding to look back and see the hundreds of students who have been involved in the symphony,鈥� says , who has been a violin-viola teacher since 1989, program director since the orchestra鈥檚 first year in 1990, and conductor of the Junior Strings ensemble since its inception in 2001. 鈥淢ost students in our area would not otherwise have the chance to participate in such a group and play some of the great music written for orchestra. And it鈥檚 exciting to know that an organization with a small beginning has grown into what it is today and is still vibrant.鈥�

鈥淪ome students that have passed through the youth symphony program choose to continue music as a profession,鈥� says , symphony conductor since 2002. 鈥淥thers move on to different careers, but no matter what path they choose, music remains in their souls and helps them to become better individuals.鈥�

The Program

The program features 鈥淪ymphony No. 1鈥� by Mozart and several selections from the musical, 鈥淔iddler on the Roof,鈥� played by the Junior Ensemble; and several selections by the symphony, including 鈥淥verture to Nabucco鈥� by Verdi; the 鈥淩ussian Easter Overture鈥� by Rimsky-Korsakoff; and the first movement from the 鈥淰iolin Concerto in E Minor鈥� by Mendelssohn, featuring soloist Lillian Hughes.

Lillian, a senior at , describes her solo as 鈥渕ournful鈥� and 鈥渨istful,鈥� with a 鈥渂eautiful soaring melody鈥� and a 鈥渧irtuosic ending.鈥�

The daughter of Chris and Mary Hughes, Lillian has studied violin for 13 years through the Shenandoah Valley Preparatory Music Program and been a member of the symphony for six years, serving as co-concertmaster for the past two years. She currently studies with .

She first soloed as a 5-year-old, playing 鈥淪ee the Pretty Flowers鈥� for a preparatory music program spring recital. The experience was memorable, she says: 鈥淚 remember being horribly nervously beforehand, but it all turned out fine in the end.鈥�

Lillian has gone on to great success in her musical auditions, which have resulted in selections in two All-State Orchestras and one All-State Chorus, four Senior Regional Orchestras, and the Virginia Governor鈥檚 Summer School for the Performing Arts. She plans to study music and biochemistry in college.

This special celebration concert will also feature a work written by local teacher and composer Anthony VanPelt, who was a member of the youth symphony for its first five years. The ensemble will perform the first movement from VanPelt鈥檚 “New Market.”

In addition, the symphony will perform the winning composition from the New Music for Young Musicians Composers Competition held at James Madison University this year. The chosen work, 鈥淩emember Who You Are鈥�, was written by Chris M. Cerreto, a current JMU student.

The symphony will perform van Suppe鈥檚 “Poet and Peasant Overture,鈥� Brahms鈥� 鈥淗ungarian Dances No. 5 and 6,鈥� John Williams鈥� 鈥淪tar Wars,鈥� and Haydn鈥檚 “Toy Symphony.”

Younger members of the preparatory program will play a variety of whistles and noisemakers during the Haydn Symphony.

The orchestra, conducted by Maria Lorcas, a violin teacher with the preparatory music program, is an auditioned ensemble of high school players from Page, Shenandoah, Rockingham and Augusta counties. In addition to EMU and James Madison University students, several community members will participate in the evening’s festivities.

A $5 donation is requested that will benefit scholarship students in the preparatory music program.

About the soloist

Randy Wiedemann, violin, will perform 鈥淐oncerto for Violin in E minor鈥� by Mendelssohn. Randy, son of Dr. Werner and Charlene Wiedemann of Luray, Va., has been studying the violin for eight years, first with his sister and then with several preparatory music teachers, including his current teacher Maria Lorcas.

A senior at the in New Market, Va., Randy is principal violist with the SVA Orchestra, sings in the honors choir and is a member of the National Honor Society. He is in his fifth year with the youth symphony and has been principal violist for four years.

Randy also plays the viola and is currently studying with Kathleen Overfield-Zook. He also enjoys sports and is a pitcher for the SVA baseball team.

Randy plans to attend college next fall and double major in history and music with viola as his principal instrument.

History of

The orchestra began in 1990 as a strong ensemble and in part through a grant from the . The ensemble grew to a full orchestra in its next season and is the only opportunity for instrumental students to participate in such a group this side of Charlottesville and Winchester.

The preparatory music program has over 400 students enrolled this year in instrumental lessons, Musikgarten and the youth orchestra. Students become members by audition and perform three or four public concerts per year. Rising seniors may audition to play a solo with the orchestra.

is the program director. Inquiries to the youth orchestra should be made to 540-432-4277 or prepmusic@emu.edu.

Speaking at the final event, a service marking Palm Sunday, Wiebe touched on the way writers work in silence, enveloped in the mystery of writing. Yet when writers and readers meet, their 鈥渕utual silences open to listening.鈥�

There was little silence at this conference, dubbed 鈥淢ennonite/s Writing VI.鈥� Packed into the two days, one evening and one morning were: an oratorio featuring the poetry of one of the conference participants, Jean Janzen of California; two dramatic 聽performances and an equal number of music events; at least 30 readings from original poems, works of fiction and memoirs; and plenty of talks on such weighty topics as the intersection of theology and poetry (鈥渢heopoetics鈥�), on teaching writing and literature, and on what it means to be a Mennonite or to write in a Mennonite manner. Critics of literature formed one panel discussion and publishers of literature formed another.

Some participants left the campus to take a guided tour of the MennoMedia offices a block away or a different tour to Singers Glen, eight miles to the west of EMU, where the oldest continually used hymnal in the United States was first published by a local Mennonite man, Joseph Funk.

Kirsten Beachy, an EMU assistant professor who was co-chair of the conference, smilingly summed up the conference with these words: 鈥淲e feasted together on words and on food.鈥�

Throughout the conference, participants often credited Wiebe and Julia Spicher Kasdorf, a poet and conference co-chair, with inspiring other Mennonite writers by producing seminal works that challenged the insularity of the traditional Mennonite church-community in North America鈥攈e in 1962 with his first novel, Peace Shall Destroy Many, and she in 1992 with her first book of poetry, Sleeping Preacher.

Well-known poet and essayist Gregory Orr, a University of Virginia professor who is not a Mennonite, attracted one of the largest crowds assembled in one location to hear his talk on 鈥渆thics, aesthetics and the lyric.鈥� He advocated that writers be true to themselves and 鈥渂reak with the overculture,鈥� a message that resonated with his Mennonite audience in two ways鈥攕ome have worked hard to find their voice within the 鈥渙verculture鈥� of their original community, while many view themselves as belonging to a minority culture that often goes against the grain of the mainstream culture.

On Friday evening, Vern Thiessen, one of the most-produced playwrights in Canada, performed two roles鈥攖hat of himself and of his father鈥攊n 鈥淏ack to Berlin,鈥� his play exploring how his father (and by extension other Mennonites in Germany) acquiesced to or collaborated with the Nazis during World War II.

Writers who received formal tributes at the Saturday evening banquet were Ervin Beck, Goshen College professor emeritus; Omar Eby, EMU professor emeritus; Al Reimer, professor emeritus at the University of Winnipeg; Elaine Sommers Rich, author of the 1964 children鈥檚 book Hannah Elizabeth; and Katie Funk Wiebe, a prolific essayist who taught at Tabor College before her retirement.

The EMU conference received support from the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as from Conrad Grebel University College in Ontario and private donors. It was the sixth gathering in North America since 1990 of writers who have a Mennonite background, who delve into Mennonite themes in their works, or who simply have an interest in this field. Photos are online at emu.edu/photos/mennonites-writing-vi-conference/

草莓社区 (EMU) will host a March 29-April 1. The sixth in a series of Mennonite Writing conferences in the United States and Canada, the conference comes to the East Coast of the United States for the first time this spring.

鈥淚f you love to read or write, whether you鈥檙e Mennonite, MennoNot, or Menno-curious, this conference is for you,鈥� said conference co-chair , assistant professor of at EMU.

鈥淢ennonite/s Writing VI: Solos and Harmonies鈥� will feature a performance by Canadian Mennonite playwright Vern Thiessen and a reading and lecture by Charlottesville, Va., poet Greg Orr. A growing list of Mennonite scholars and writers, including Katherine Arnoldi, Stephen Raleigh Byler, Todd Davis, Dora Dueck, Jeff Gundy, Ann Hostetler, Jean Janzen, Julia Spicher Kasdorf, Keith Ratzlaff, Sofia Samatar, Hildi Froese Tiessen, and Rudy Wiebe will share their work.

Several events are open to the public, including a kick-off poetry reading followed by an orchestra concert on Thursday evening; a Friday night performance by Vern Thiessen of Back to Berlin, a funny and lyrical look at a father and son on a trip to Berlin to discover secrets lying in the city鈥攁nd in the father鈥檚 past; a lecture on 鈥淓thics, Aesthetics, and the Lyric鈥� by Charlottesville poet Gregory Orr Saturday morning, followed by a reading of his poetry. The conference will close with a Sunday morning meditation by Rudy Wiebe.

The festival program for conference registrants includes over seventy different presentations: readings, scholarly paper presentations, writing workshops, performances, book-signings, excursions and feasting. 鈥淥ur cup is full and running over when it comes to the program,鈥� said Beachy. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 possibly see everything offered during the weekend, but you鈥檒l have a lot of great options. It鈥檚 a good reflection of the abundant and diverse voices coming out of Mennonite faith and culture.鈥�

The conference committee, co-chaired by Spicher Kasdorf, includes Mennonite writers and scholars from Bluffton, Goshen and EMU. Conrad Grebel University College (Waterloo, Ont.), co-sponsors the conference, and committee member of Conrad Grebel convened the first Mennonite writing conference there in 1990.

The conference is sponsored in part by the , the and the Marpeck Foundation.

For more information contact Kirsten Eve Beachy at kirsten.beachy@emu.edu. The full conference schedule and online registration can be found at .

Special rates are available for students and seniors.

The 33-member youth symphony, part of , will perform George Frideric Handel鈥檚 “Music for the Royal Fireworks Overture” and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky鈥檚 Dances from “The Nutcracker.” In addition, Dance & Company will perform four of the dances.

Nicholas Gardner, oboe, will perform 鈥淐oncerto for Oboe in A minor鈥� by Antonio Vivaldi and Breton Nicholas, French horn, will perform 鈥淢orceau de Concert鈥� by Camille Saint-Saens.

The Orchestra, conducted by , a violin teacher with preparatory music, consists of high school players from Page, Shenandoah, Rockingham and Augusta counties. EMU and James Madison Universitystudents will also participate in addition to several community members.

, Artistic Director and Founder, will conduct the concert choir in “Viva la Musica,” by Michael Praetorius; “Laudamus Te (Duet from Gloria),” by Vivaldi, arranged by Doreen Rao; “Blow, Blow Thou Winter Wind,” text by William Shakespeare and music by John Rutter; and “Sesere eeye,” a traditional song and dance from the Torres Straight Island, arranged by Matthew Doyle.

The Treble Choir set will include “The Heavens Declare,” from William Selby, arranged by Barbara Owen; “I Will Bring You Brooches,” text by Robert Louis Stevenson and music by Ruth Boshkoff; and “Sourwood Mountain,” a southern folk song arranged by Shirley McRae with Lorcas on violin.

The fall concert is a precursor to the SVCC Christmas Concert with the Washington Symphonic Brass Quintet 7 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 3, and 3 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 4, in Lehman Auditorium.

A suggested $5 donation at the door will benefit EMU鈥檚 Preparatory Music scholarship program and SVCC tuition assistance fund.

About the soloists

Breton Nicholas is an active member of both the National Honor Society and National Spanish Honor Society and HHS Tri-M music honor society. He attended the 2011 Summer Residential Governor’s School for the Humanities at Radford University and the 2009 Valley Ridge Summer Regional

Governor’s School in Environmental Science at JMU.

Nicholas co-founded the HHS Bike Club and Rocktown Racing and earned a varsity letter in swimming. He is in his fourth year as a member of the HHS Symphonic Band, playing first chair horn the last two years. Nicholas has been first chair horn in both Harrisonburg city and Rockingham County Honors band and District band last year.

In addition, he is an active member of Boy Scout Troop 40 of Harrisonburg and will have completed all requirements for the highest award, Eagle Scout, by December of 2011. Nicholas hopes to study music and science in college. He is the son of and .

Nicholas Gardner is a senior at Spotswood High School (SHS). He has played oboe in the concert and Symphonic bands at SHS since his freshman year. He is in his seventh year of private instruction and has been a member of the EMU Youth Orchestra since the spring of 2010. In the spring of 2011, he was awarded the medallion and academic awards for music at SHS.

Gardner held the position of luminary chairman for the Rockingham County Relay for Life in 2011 and is a member of the National Social Studies Honor Society and the National Spanish Honor Society.

Gardner is a member of Boy Scout Troop 40 where he is finishing requirements for his Eagle Scout rank. He has held the position of senior patrol leader and was on the team teaching the Boy Scout鈥檚 National Youth Leadership Training program. He plans to study music education in college. He is the son of Nichola and Richard Gardner.

History of

The orchestra began in 1990 as a strong ensemble and in part through a grant from the . The ensemble grew to a full orchestra in its next season and is the only opportunity for instrumental students to participate in such a group this side of Charlottesville and Winchester. Students become members by audition and perform three or four public concerts per year.聽 Rising seniors may audition to play a solo with the orchestra.

This semester the Orchestra has partnered with to perform four dances from “The Nutcracker.” It is a unique opportunity for dancers to perform to live music and for musicians to have their music interpreted before a live audience. On October 23, they presented a “Musical Treats” concert in costume for about 75 area children.

is the program director. Inquiries to the Shenandoah Valley Youth Orchestra should be made to 540-432-4277 or prepmusic@emu.edu.

More on the

The SVCC is part of the music department at 草莓社区.聽 The SVCC includes over 150 children in three auditioned choirs and two classes for young children, a staff of five and a rigorous performing and touring schedule.

The SVCC鈥檚 fifteenth compact disc entitled 鈥溾�� was released October 15, 2011, to mark the twentieth anniversary year.聽 A compilation of the last two years of song repertoire, the CD includes both general music and Christmas selections.聽 The Preparatory, Treble, and Concert Choirs are featured separately and guests including the Sons of the Day, Washington Symphonic Brass, and guest musicians Nick Merillat and Pedro Aponte are featured.

For more information on SVCC or to order a compact disc visit聽 , email svcc@emu.edu or call , choir manager at 540-432-4650.

The program opens Sunday, June 10 and concludes with the popular Leipzig worship service June 17.

Dr. Kenneth Nafziger directs the orchestra and choir in Bach’s “Mass in B Minor” to open the 2006 festival.
Photo by Jim Bishop

“Since Felix Mendelssohn’s revival of Bach’s ‘St. Matthew Passion’ in 1829, composers have been inspired by the monumental music of the late Baroque master,” said Kenneth J. Nafziger, artistic director and conductor of the festival. “The circle of admirers includes all who participate in Bach festivals around the world and musicians from many cultures who have made his music their own.”

The opening concert, at 3 p.m. Sunday, June 10, in Lehman Auditorium. will feature Bach’s “Concerto for 2 Violins and Strings in D Minor” with violinists Joan Griffing and Susan Black; “Bachianas brasileiras, No. 1” by Heitor Villa-Lobos, Mendelssohn’s’ “String Symphony No. 5 in B-flat Major” and “Las Cuatro Estaciones Portenas” (The Four Seasons) by Astor Piazzola.

Janina Fialkowska, pianist

Major festival concerts will be held at 7:30 p.m. Friday, June 15 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 16 in Lehman Auditorium. Friday’s program will feature the brilliant artistry of pianist Janina Fialkowska in two concertos for piano and orchestra by Frederic Chopin, along with Bach’s “Orchestral Suite No. 1 in C Major and Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach’s “Symphony in E-flat Major.”

Saturday night’s program will draw on the combined talents of the Bach festival orchestra and choir with guest soloists Sharla Nafziger, soprano, and Thomas Jones, bass, in performing Johannes Brahms’ “Requiem.”

Chamber music programs with instrumentalists and vocalists from the festival will be presented noon-1 p.m. Monday through Saturday, June 11-16, at Asbury United Methodist Church, S. Main St., in Harrisonburg. Admission is free; donations are welcomed.

The festival will conclude with the annual Leipzig service at 10 a.m. June 17 in Lehman Auditorium, often cited by many attendees as the highlight of the week. The program recreates an 18th century worship service at St. Thomas Lutheran Church in Leipzig, Germany, where Bach was cantor and conducted a cantata for each week’s service.

The Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival is sponsored in part by the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the Arts Council of the Valley.

Bach Festival tickets are available on-line at or by calling the EMU box office at 540-432-4582.

More than 100 young people will take part in a Suzuki violin concert 4 p.m. Sunday, May 13, in Lehman Auditorium at 草莓社区.

The students, from 3 to 18 years of age, come from all areas of the central Shenandoah Valley, including Augusta, Bath, Page and Shenandoah counties.

The concert will begin with the most advanced pieces, and more students will be added until all are on stage for the grand finale of “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.” Maria Lorcas, Jessica Trainum and Sharon Miller are the teachers leading the students, along with teaching intern Megan Tiller.

Most of the students are part of EMU’s , a year-round program offering music lessons and ensembles for students of all ages and levels since 1988.

Currently, 320 students are enrolled in various aspects of the program, including Musikgarten (infant – 6 years), the Shenandoah Valley Youth Orchestra and instrumental lessons (violin, viola, cello, piano, guitar, flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet and harp).

The concert will also include students from the Garth Newell Suzuki Program, Hot Springs, Va., taught by Cynthia Penne of Lexington, Va.

EMU’s Preparatory Program also has an Outreach Project, an effort to provide string instrument instruction to students who would not otherwise have the opportunity.

Currently, 48 students receive violin instruction at Stone Spring, Waterman and Keister Elementary Schools and at EMU. Outreach students will also play at the concert and come from the city of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County.

In addition to the partnerships with the city schools, the Outreach Project is supported by the Virginia Commission of the Arts, The Arts Council of the Valley and the Music Gallery.

Sunday’s concert is free and open to the public. For more information, contact the Preparatory Music Program at 540-432-4277 or at .

The , held each year at 草莓社区, is a massive undertaking, requiring considerable planning, intense rehearsals of many singers and musicians and major financial support.

And, audience expectation levels keep going up – understandably so, given the quality of the programs.

So, why has invested his time and energy as artistic director and conductor of the weeklong event for 13 years?

"The people I work with sustain this effort," Dr. Nafziger, long-time professor of music at EMU, said. "There’s always enough music to select from, but it’s this incredible group that comes together every year that makes all the difference.

"The orchestra members come prepared, they know what to expect," Nafziger said. "Rehearsal begins for the opening concert, and we pick up where we left off from last year. Participants gain strength from the musical experience. Everyone benefits and is nourished," he added.

This year’s festival, held June 12-19 on the EMU campus, combined the glorious masterworks of prolific German composer Johann Sebastian Bach with the works of other "Bs" – Brahms, Bartok, Berstein, Britten, Boccherini, Bruch and Berlioz.

The opening concert featured Bach’s "Concerto for Flute, Violin and Harpsichord in A Minor" with Pedro Aponte, flute; Joan Griffing, violin; and Bradley Lehman, harpsichord. Other "Bs" on the program were Leonard Bernstein’s "Missa Brevis," Bela Bartok’s "Romanian Folk Dances" and Benjamin Britten’s "Simple Symphony."

Viola players Christy Heatwole (l.), Lancaster, Pa., and Karen Johnson, Cincinnati, Ohio, compare notes during a festival orchestra rehearsal.
Photo by Jim Bishop

The "sense of community and family-like atmosphere" that pervades the Bach Festival was underscored by several participants.

Susan Black, a violinist in the festival orchestra, has returned to play each year since 1997. She said she comes back to experience the "excellent musicianship" and the "cameraderie in playing Bach’s music together," adding that she found playing Beethoven’s ‘Ninth Symphony’ "a challenge."

A teacher at Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, Black is in her 14th year of playing second violin in the Charlottesville and University Symphony Orchestra and has participated in the Eastern Music Festival at Greensboro, N.C., for 25 years.

Sandra Gerster, principal oboist in the festival orchestra, has taken part in every Bach Festival at EMU but the first one. "The music, friends, food and cameraderie among my colleages all bring me back every year," she said. "There’s a positive aura here."

Ms. Gerster, a regular performer with the North Carolina, Richmond and Annapolis Symphony orchestras, noted that she found the ‘Four Serious Songs’ by Brahms challenging to play and was "moved to tears" by soloist Daniel Lichti’s interpretation of them.

For mezzo-soprano Heidi Kurtz of Philadelphia, Pa., performing as a soloist in the Bach Festival is like coming home. A 1989 music graduate of EMU, she sang roles in "Les Nuits d’Ete, Op. 7" by Hector Berlioz in the opening festival concert, Beethoven’s "Symphony No. 9 in D Minor" and Bach’s "Cantata No. 45" in the closing Leipzig service.

"It’s great to do this," Ms. Kurtz said of the Bach Festival. "Ken [Nafziger] is a major reason for my returning several times. He encouraged me to work toward a professional career in music when I studied under him."

Kurtz is soprano soloist at All Saint’s Episcopal Church and a member of the Philadelphia Singers.

Kurtz found it challenging to sing three different types of music from Bach to Berlioz. "Receiving energy from the audience helps my performance. It’s so important," she said.

Sandwiched between the main festival concerts were daily noon chamber music programs that filled the Asbury United Methodist Church sanctuary in downtown Harrisonburg. The programs ranged from a young artists concert to lighter works by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II to Bach harpsichord numbers performed by Bradley Lehman.

In 2004, Lehman discovered Bach’s method of tuning harpsichords and organs, encoded graphically on the title page of the "Well-Tempered Clavier." His article about this finding was published in the February and May 2005 issues of "Early Music," published by Oxford University Press.

The festival concluded with the annual Leipzig Service June 19 in Lehman Auditorium. The program recreates an 18th century worship service at St. Thomas Lutheran Church in Leipzig, Germany, where Bach was cantor and composed a cantata for each week’s service.

"Many people cite the Leipzig service as the highlight of the week, a significant worship experience that speaks loudly to participants," said one observer.

“The Bach Festival reflects the cooperation of around 200 people directly involved as musicians, host families, ushers for concerts, board members, Asbury church staff and others,” said Beth K. Aracema, assistant professor of music at EMU and festival coordinator. “It is a comprehensive team effort, with far-reaching rewards. Add the participation of the audiences, whose numbers exceeded expectations this year, and the results are a music festival recognized for its excellence that enriches this community in so many ways,” she added.

The Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival is sponsored in part by the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the Arts Council of the Valley.

Next year’s festival, to be held June 11-18 at EMU, will employ the theme, "Mostly Bach." Jeremy Wall, pianist and arranger, will return as guest artist.

Between 80 and 90 students in the play variations on "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" for the finale number in a Suzuki violin group concert held Sunday, May 15, at 草莓社区. The program opened with several students performing advanced repertoire. As the concert progressed, the pieces became less advanced and more students were added, culminating with everyone playing the familiar tune.

The Preparatory Music Program, part of EMU’s music department, had 193 students enrolled the past year in the instrumental program alone. The program also includes the and classes for a total enrollment of 310 students. Private instrumental lessons and Musikgarten classes are offered throughout the summer months.

Through grants from the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the Arts Council of the Valley along with private donations, an "" has expanded into local schools, working with students who can’t afford lessons or instruments. In addition to fall and spring recitals, Preparatory Music students gave programs at the Massanutten Regional Library, the Harrisonburg Children’s Museum and the Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community.

Sixty violin students, ages 4 to 18, will make beautiful music together 4 p.m. Sunday, May 15, in Lehman Auditorium at 草莓社区.

These students study the Suzuki violin approach through EMU

No, it’s not "Be Bop a Lula," But Be assured, there’s Boundless Beautiful music in store as the Begins its 13th season this summer at 草莓社区, June 12-19.

Under the artistic direction of , professor of , this year’s program will combine the dazzling masterworks of prolific German composer Johann Sebastian Bach with the music of other "Bs" – Brahms, Bartok, Berstein, Britten, Boccherini, Bruch and Berlioz.

"Many people assume classical music is made up of three famous ‘Bs’ – Bach, Beethoven and Brahms, Dr. Nafziger noted. "So why not find an interesting collection of music by composers whose last names begin with the letter B?

"The choice of Beethoven’s ‘Symphony No. 9’ was in response to numerous and repeated requests for this well-loved work to be performed at a festival sometime," he said.

Nafziger pointed out that this is the 200th centennial of the death of Italian composer Luigi Boccherini. "With little likelihood of featuring his festival any time soon, I chose to find a way to include him this year," he said. "Let’s see: what do Beethoven and Boccherini have in common? Not much, actually!

"The only point of unity was the initial B, which, fortuitously is also the first initial of him for whom this festival is named. Aha! How about Bach and other Bs? I would like to claim this as a stroke of genius, but it really was an accident!"

The opening concert, at 3 p.m. Sunday, June 12, in EMU’s Lehman Auditorium, will feature Bach’s "Concerto for Flute, Violin and Harpsichord in A Minor" with Pedro Aponte, flute; Joan Griffing, violin; and Bradley Lehman, harpsichord. Other "Bs" on the program are Leonard Bernstein’s "Missa Brevis," Bela Bartok’s "Romanian Folk Dances" and Benjamin Britten’s "Simple Symphony."

Major festival concerts will be held 7:30 p.m. Friday, June 17 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 18. The delectable menu will include the appetizing Bach’s "Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F Major"; "Double Concerto for Clarinet and Viola and Orchestra" by Max Bruch; leading to the main course, Beethoven’s "Symphony No. 9 in D Minor" with the festival chorus and orchestra and soloists.

Sandwiched between the main festival concerts will be daily chamber music programs noon-1 p.m. at Asbury United Methodist Church with a variety of programs offered throughout the week. A Saturday (June 18) "Concert for Families" will feature a mother-daughter choir directed by Julia White.

The festival will conclude with the annual Leipzig Service 10 a.m. June 19 in Lehman Auditorium, often cited as the highlight of the week for many attendees. The program recreates an 18th century worship service at St. Thomas Lutheran Church in Leipzig, Germany, where Bach was cantor and composed a cantata for each week’s service.

The Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival is sponsored in part by the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the Arts Council of the Valley.

Advance tickets to the three concerts are available from the EMU box office, 540-432-4582. More information on the Bach Festival is available at .

The 22-member Junior Strings ensemble, directed by Sharon M.D. Miller, will open the program with the third movement of the Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 by Bach and the "Finale" from Symphony No. 2 in C by Tchaikovsky.

These intermediate string players come from Shenandoah, Rockingham and Augusta Counties, as well as Harrisonburg, New Market, Staunton and Waynesboro. Miller is the administrative director of the EMU where she also teaches Suzuki violin and viola, music education and Suzuki pedagogy courses. She has taught at EMU since 1989.

The string members of the youth symphony will perform three movements of Corelli’s "Concerto VIII" featuring violinists Jessica Peck and Benjamin Roth as well as cellist Nathan Bontrager and Bergen White on harpsichord.

The full orchestra, conducted by Maria Lorcas, will perform Mozart’s "Overture to Don Giovanni," the "Romanian Folk Dances" by Bartok and two movements from Beethoven’s "Symphony No. 7." Seven graduating seniors will be recognized at the concert, followed by a reception for the students and audience.

The Shenandoah Valley Youth Symphony consists of 37 members from a three-county area representing 11 public and private middle and high schools. Students are selected by audition.

Ms. Lorcas is in her third season as the youth symphony conductor. She began her undergraduate studies in her native country of Venezuela and later received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music (violin performance) from Duquesne and Carnegie Mellon Universities, respectively.

Lorcas has been teaching privately and coaching orchestra strings since 1993. She is also a trained Suzuki violin teacher, has a studio in the Preparatory Music Program and teaches in the Outreach Project.

The Youth Symphony has been a part of the Shenandoah Valley Preparatory Music Program since 1990. Musical instruction is given to 310 students in the following areas: (violin, viola, cello, piano, flute, clarinet, trumpet, guitar, Suzuki violin), (ages 18 months to 6 years), and the Shenandoah Valley Youth Symphony Orchestra/Junior Strings (grades 4-12), and the Violin Outreach Project (funded in part by
the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the Arts Council of the Valley).

Admission to the concert is a suggested $5 donation at the door.