The Hesston College Music Department has announced membership for the 2013-14 Bel Canto Singers. Members are selected by competitive audition.
Incoming first-year students named to the ensemble are Rachelle Adrian, Mountain Lake, Minn.; Mary Bender, Harrisonburg, Va.; Spencer Berning, Newton, Kan.; Keilah Brokaw, Kalona, Iowa; Davis Cook, Goessel, Kan.; Galed Krisjayanta, Surakarta, Indonesia; Havela Lehman, Canby, Ore.; Matt Lind, Harrisonburg, Va.; Jay Marsten, Murpheysboro, Ill.; Karli Mast, Hubbard, Ore.; Holly Peters, Hesston, Kan.; Jason Schroeder, Harper, Kan.; and Taylor Zehr, Archbold, Ohio.
Hesston College students named to the ensemble for their sophomore year are Laura Baker, Protection, Kan.; Rachelle Haarer, Goshen, Ind.; and Nathanael Ressler, Mount Vernon, Ill.
Hesston College students who were part of Bel Canto during their freshman year and who will return with the ensemble for their sophomore year are Josh Booth, Goessel, Kan.; Rebecca Eichelberger, Geneva, Neb.; Morgan Martin, New Holland, Pa.; Cameron Ponce, Elkhart, Ind.; Rebecca Rhodes, Arthur, Ill.; Jeffrey Smoker, Harrisonburg, Va.; and Emily Taylor, Inman, Kan.
The 2013-14 year will mark 30 years of Bel Canto Singers, Hesston College’s premiere choral ensemble. Under the direction of Bradley Kauffman, the mixed chamber choir performs ambitious concert and touring schedules annually.
The choir has performed for professional clinicians including The King’s Singers, Charles Bruffy and Constantina Tsolainou and appeared with the Wichita (Kan.) Grand Opera in its tenth anniversary gala concert in 2011. During the 2012-13 academic year, Bel Canto performed at churches and schools throughout Kansas, including at St. Fidelis Church: The Cathedral on the Plains (Victoria, Kan.) and toured in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and was part of a mass festival choir which performed at New York City’s Carnegie Hall.
Bel Canto Singers represent a broad sampling of academic pursuits, from aviation to nursing to music majors.