Hesston College alumni and friends are invited to an evening of music, comedy entertainment, and dessert starting at 7 p.m., Friday, March 13, at LVD’s Concert Hall at the Historic 1896 Old Bag Factory, 1100 Chicago Avenue in Goshen. Doors will open at 6 p.m.

Performers include two Hesston College alumni-professional baritone and faculty member Anthony Brown ’68 and northern Indiana comedian Jon Helmuth ’91.

Brown will be accompanied by music faculty member Ken Rodgers ’85.

A special announcement about the Hesston “Living The Vision” Centennial Celebration will also be made.

Tickets are $25 per person. Proceeds will benefit current students through 2008-09 Hesston College Student Financial Aid. Seating is limited. Reservations and payment are requested by March 6. Call toll-free at 866-437-7866 (866-HESSTON).

Don’t miss this Hesston event to be remembered for the next 100 years!

Internationally-acclaimed baritone Anthony Brown is a promoter of peace and goodwill around the world and across the U.S. He often uses African-American spirituals as a tool to assist in the process of healing and reconciliation. Since 2002, Brown has sung and spoken in Bosnia, Northern Ireland, The People’s Republic of China, Moldova, the Ukraine, Russia, northern Uganda, South Korea, and Ethiopia.

In December 2008, Brown returned to the Hesston College campus after his fall semester sabbatical in Japan where he spent June through December understanding the Japanese worldview, relating to Mennonite fellowships in Sapporo, and singing and speaking for peace.

While Brown sings the standard classical repertoire, he has made a specialty of performing “music of the American experience.” This includes art songs, Broadway show tunes and ballads, folk songs, American songs of the 1800s, and spirituals. Music critics around the country have applauded his performances.

Brown has released four CDs, the most recent one, Each Other’s Light: Songs of Peace, Hope, and Justice, in December 2006. Brown believes that transcendence can assist in healing the hurts in the world and this comes through in his music. He hopes to continue using this recording to continue to promote peace around the world.

In addition to being a long-term student of voice, Brown has had a professional career as a psychotherapist and brings the depth of that experience to his work as peacemaker and artist.

Brown teaches sociology and history courses and provides counseling services at Hesston College.

 

Jon Helmuth is president of Genesis Products, which operates three wood products manufacturing facilities in Goshen and Elkhart, Ind. He and his wife, Lisa, and their four children live in Goshen.

As a comedian, Jon tells his audiences that he facilitates the design of many area quilt expos and showrooms. He also enjoys spending his free time training miniature Shetland ponies for use in famous performances such as Cirque du Soleil, Siegfried & Roy, and most famously-in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.