This year's Eastern Mennonite University/Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival Gala Concert, themed Arise, celebrates the beauty of resilience in overcoming hardship and the joy and peace found in community. The concert will feature tap dance, jazz, singing, and the grand finale from one of the most powerful and moving musical masterworks of all time, Gustav Mahler’s “Resurrection” Symphony. Broadway tap dancer/singer/actor Izaiah Montaque Harris and 2024 Ella Fitzgerald Jazz Voice Competition finalist Tina Hashemi will team up with the EMU Jazz Big Band to present a new narrative suite that tells the story of moving from loneliness to the joy of community through dance and music.
In addition to the gala, guest artist Izaiah Montaque Harris will perform programs for over 1,000 K-8th grade students throughout the Harrisonburg and Rockingham County school system in conjunction with the Kennedy Center sponsored arts education non-profit, Any Given Child – Shenandoah Valley, which is dedicated to making the arts accessible to students throughout the region. The concert is free with a $10-$20 suggested donation.
... read more about In The News: Thoughts from EMU’s Gala Concert Directors from Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival
Lorraine Stutzman Amstutz ’81, of Ephrata, Pennsylvania, the denominational minister for peace and justice for Mennonite Church USA, was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association of Community and Restorative Justice at the 9th annual National Conference on Community and Restorative Justice in Washington, D.C., on July 30.
... read more about In the News: EMU alumna receives Lifetime Achievement Award from Mennonite Church USA
Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Leymah Gbowee MA ’07, founder and president of Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa, has been selected by Melinda French Gates to receive a $20 million grant to support women’s health and well-being around the world. The Liberian peace activist, trained social worker and women’s rights advocate earned a master’s degree in conflict transformation from EMU’s Center for Justice and Peacebuilding (CJP). She was awarded EMU’s first honorary doctorate in 2018 and gave the commencement address that year (pictured) as well.
... read more about In the News: Leymah Gbowee MA ’07 to receive $20M grant from Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa
