Bel Canto Singers prepare for fall break tour

2014-15 Hesston College Bel Canto Singers
Posted on by Rachel McMaster

The Hesston College Bel Canto Singers will present a diverse repertoire of choral music during a fall break tour to Iowa and northeast Kansas Oct. 9 to 14.

Concerts include:

  • 7 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 9, at Iowa Mennonite School (Kalona)
  • 7:30 p.m., Friday, Oct. 10, at Des Moines (Iowa) Mennonite Church
  • 9:30 a.m., Sunday, Oct. 11, at Southern Hills Mennonite Church (Topeka, Kan.)
  • 7 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 14, at Hesston Mennonite Church on the Hesston College campus

The program entitled “Asylum: worth, beauty, and refuge” features music ranging from renaissance motet to South African and African-American freedom songs and recent works. The concert draws inspiration from Hesston College’s 2014 common read “Escape from Camp 14,” a New York Times bestseller by Blaine Harden. The program champions the cause of human rights and celebrates refuge in its many forms. The 24 member, mixed chamber choir is conducted by Bradley Kauffman.

This fall marks the 31st season for Bel Canto Singers, Hesston College’s premiere choral ensemble. The ensemble carries out ambitious concert and touring schedules annually. Combining high artistic standards with unique performance opportunities, Bel Canto Singers provides first- and second-year college musicians access to experiences typically reserved for third- and fourth-year students. Recent juried appearances include performances for the King’s Singers, Charles Bruffy and the Rose Ensemble. In May of 2013, Bel Canto ushered in its fourth decade with a performance at New York’s Carnegie Hall in a mass choir presentation of Brahms’ “Requiem.”

Bel Canto Singers represents a broad sampling of academic pursuits, from aviation to nursing to music majors. The choir has two recent compact disc recordings for sale – “Meditations and Illuminations”(2011-12) and “Songs of a Wayfarer” (2012-2013).

Bel Canto members are: Rachelle Adrian (Mt. Lake, Minn.), Erika Baker (LaGrange, Ind.), Alaina Beatty (Washington, Iowa), Mary Bender (Harrisonburg, Va.), Brady Bilderback (Caldwell, Idaho), Kiara Boettger (Harrisonburg, Va.), Zachary Headings (Haven, Kan.), Ben Helmuth (Goshen, Ind.), Galed Krisjayanta (Surakarta, Indonesia), Havela Lehman (Canby, Ore.), Elliott Leichty (Harrisonburg, Va.), Matt Lind (Harrisonburg, Va.), Jay Marston (Murpheysboro, Ill.), Anna Martin (Harleysville, Pa.), Karli Mast (Hubbard, Ore.), John Miller (Partridge, Kan.), Lorren Oesch (Caldwell, Idaho), Casey Perez (Kalona, Iowa), Eleya Raim (Oxford, Iowa), Emma Roth (Goshen, Ind.), Caleb Schrock-Hurst (Harrisonburg, Va.), Rachel Shenk (Harrisonburg, Va.), Andry Stutzman (Harrisonburg, Va.) and Taylor Zehr (Archbold, Ohio).