Music Department News

Dimnent's Skinner Organ Recognized for Historical Merit See Photos/Articles of Organ Restoration Listen to Skinner Organ (scroll down) The Skinner Organ in Dimnent Memorial Chapel has been recognized "as an instrument of exceptional historic merit, worthy of preservation" by the Organ Historical Society. Since establishing the Historic Organ Citation program in 1975, the society has honored only 398 pipe organs across the United and in Canada. continue

Jazz in Japan The Hope Jazz Chamber Ensemble I has concluded a successful concert tour in Japan. Under the leadership of Professor Rob Hodson, the group had concerts at Meiji Gakuin University, Ferris University and an Alumni Association-sponsored event at Miles' Cafe in Ikebukuro, Japan, which is in the center of Tokyo. Read more about the Jazz in Japan Project.

Hope Jazz Students performing at Miles' Cafe in Tokyo, July 2010: Larry Figueroa, piano; Zach Pedigo, bass; Nate Roberts, guitar; David Webster, drums

Hope Chapel Choir Releases Compact Disc

The Hope College Chapel Choir has released a new compact disc. The CD, "A Remarkable Stillness," includes 13 tracks recorded between the spring of 2007 and earlier this year at either St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church or Dimnent Memorial Chapel. The works reflect an overall theme of peace and reconciliation. The CD's title comes from the closing selection, "Rejoice in the Lamb," by Benjamin Britten, the text for which is excerpted from an 18th-century poem by Christopher Smart. Read More

Students Honored in Singing Competitions

Multiple Hope students have earned honors during recent regional singing competitions.

Five students received recognition, including two first-place awards, during the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Great Lakes Regional Competition, held at Wilfred Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, on Saturday, March 6. Two of the students had previously been named finalists in the Opera Grand Rapids Collegiate Vocal Competition held at the Betty Van Andel Opera Center in Grand Rapids on Friday, Feb. 26.
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Multiple Hope Music Groups to Tour During Spring Break

Four Hope College musical ensemble have scheduled spring tours.

The Chapel Choir, Symphonette, Wind Ensemble and Jazz Arts Collective will conduct multi-day tours beginning Thursday, March 18.
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Research Project to Study Jazz in Japan

A Hope College professor and his student research team have received support to study how the distinctly American art form of jazz has thrived in Japan for decades.

Dr. Robert Hodson, associate professor of music, has received a $26,000 ASIANetwork Freeman Student-Faculty Fellowship for his project "Jazz in Japan: Music, Community, Culture." The grant, which funds collaborative student-faculty research in Asia, will provide support as he and four students travel to Japan for three weeks in July to study the Tokyo jazz scene by attending performances and interviewing performers, club owners, students and listeners.
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TV Production of Vespers Receives Awards

The television production of the 2008 Hope College Christmas Vespers service has received recognition through three different awards programs. The program was produced by WGVU-TV in Grand Rapids in cooperation with the department of music at Hope. The program was produced and edited by WGVU producer/director Deb Kirk.
Dr. Brad Richmond, professor of music and director of choral activities at Hope, was director of the 2008 Vespers. Read More

Alumna Meredith Arwady Appears in Met Opera on PBS

Meredith Arwady, who is a 2000 Hope graduate, is a member of the cast of the New York Metropolitan Opera's production of "Doctor Atomic" being featured on local PBS station WGVU-TV35/WGVK-TV52 this month.

The station will present "Independent Lens: Wonders Are Many: The Making of Doctor Atomic" on Friday, Dec. 19, and on Tuesday, Dec. 30, from 1:30 a.m. to 3 a.m.

The production itself will be presented through "Great Performances at the Met" on Monday, Dec. 29, from 9 p.m. until midnight and on Monday, January 5 from midnight until 3 a.m.
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Hope to Feature “Pipedreams Live!” on Sept. 22

Hope College will be the featured location for a recording of the radio show "Pipedreams Live!" on Monday, Sept. 22, at 7:30 p.m. in Dimnent Memorial Chapel.

The public is invited. Admission is free.

"Pipedreams," the only nationally distributed weekly radio program exploring the art of the pipe organ, is coming to HopeCollege for a "Pipedreams Live!" performance with "Pipedreams" host Michael Barone. "Pipedreams" is produced and distributed by American Public Media and can be heard every Sunday at 7 a.m. on Blue Lake Public Radio, WBLV 90.3 FM (Muskegon and the Lakeshore) and WBLU 88.9 FM (Grand Rapids).

The Sept. 22 "Pipedreams Live!" concert will feature Hope College resident organist Huw Lewis and Hope College students and alumni showcasing Dimnent Memorial Chapel's restored 1928 E.M. Skinner pipe organ. The performance is a culmination of the organ's rededication over the past year in which Hope College hosted renowned organists Olivier Latry and Diane Bish.
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Students Honored in Regional Singing Competition

Multiple Hope students earned honors during the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Great Lakes Regional Competition, held at YoungstownStateUniversity in Ohio on Saturday, March 7.

Jared Graybiel, a junior from Lebanon, Ind., took first place in the College Musical Theatre Division. Ross Green, a junior from Plainwell, took first place in the Third-Year College Men Division. Sarah Ashcroft, a sophomore from Holland, took third place in the Second-Year College Women Division. Briana Sosenheimer, a junior from Fort Wayne, Ind., received honorable mention in the Third-Year College Women Division.
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