The Sunflower Trio, comprised of three Hesston College music faculty members, will travel to three sister institutions, Bluffton (Ohio) University, Goshen (Ind.) College and Eastern Mennonite University (Harrisonburg, Va.) for concert presentations and residency activities during a spring break tour March 14 to 18. The tour is made possible through a grant from the Marpeck Fund, which benefits Mennonite education and inter-institutional cooperation.

At each location, the trio, featuring Matthew Schloneger, tenor; Rebecca Schloneger, violin; and Kenneth Rodgers, piano and organ, will present concerts of the music of Mennonite composer J. Harold Moyer, and conduct residency activities with music students.

Moyer’s music is featured on the group’s most recent CD, Reflections: The Music of J. Harold Moyer, which celebrates the life and work of the musician, a long-time music faculty member at Bethel College (North Newton, Kan.) who passed away in 2012. Moyer’s work is important in the history of the Mennonite church as he was involved in developing The Mennonite Hymnal, the first joint hymnal venture between the Mennonite Church and the General Conference Mennonite Church. (1969), and he contributed ten hymns to Hymnal: A Worship Book (1992) as composer, arranger or tune harmonizer. Moyer also wrote three sets of songs for the Sunflower Trio consisting of tenor, violin and voice.

The trio’s concert schedule is as follows:
7:30 p.m., Tuesday, March 14 at Bluffton University, Yoder Recital Hall (free and open to the public)
7:30 p.m., Wednesday, March 15 at Goshen College, Reith Recital Hall (tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for students and senior citizens)
7:30 p.m., Saturday, March 18 at Eastern Mennonite University, Martin Chapel (free and open to the public)

The Sunflower Trio was founded in 2002 and is dedicated to performing music featuring voice, violin and piano/organ. The trio excels in a variety of styles from Baroque to contemporary, folk and Broadway. They have performed extensively throughout the United States as a part of the Kansas Arts Commission and Mid-America Arts Alliance touring rosters.