Traditionally the first opportunity to hear the Goshen College music ensembles in concert, the Homecoming Music Gala will feature the Goshen College Chamber Choir and Vox Profundi, directed by Scott Hochstetler, Voices of the Earth, directed by H. Roz Woll, and the Goshen College Symphony Orchestra, directed by Jimin Seo. The concert is presented as part of Goshen College’s 2024 Homecoming Weekend activities.

Alessandra Feris will present a solo piano recital titled. Piano Music of Latin America.

Brazilian pianist Alessandra Feris has performed widely in Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Mexico, Costa Rica, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Serbia, Greece, and in the United States, making successful solo debuts in major venues such as the Theatro São Pedro in Porto Alegre (Brazil), the Costa Rican National Theater, the Steinway Haus in Frankfurt (Germany), the Palácio de Bellas Artes (Sala Manuel M. Ponce) in Mexico City, and the Auditório León de Greiff in Bogotá, Colombia. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, an Artist Diploma from the Hochschule für Musik ‘Franz Liszt’ in Germany, a master’s degree from the University of Iowa and a doctoral degree from Florida State University. Her major teachers include Dirce Knijnik, Thomas Steinhöfel, Réne Lecuona, Read Gainsford, and the legendary Lazar Berman.

A sought-after pedagogue and winner of many teaching awards, Dr. Feris is an Associate Professor of Piano at the University of South Dakota. Her students are winners of many competitions such as the MTNA Young Artist and Senior (state level), Truran Piano Competition, and the University of South Dakota Concerto Competition. She has previously served as Piano Faculty and Artist-in-Residence of Mississippi Gulf Coast College, where she received the ‘Mississippi Humanities Council Teacher of the Year Award.’ Alessandra Feris is an artist-teacher at the InterHarmony International Music Festival in Italy, the Lancaster International Piano Festival in Pennsylvania, and the Piano Plus Festival in Greece. She is devoted to the diffusion of Latin-American piano music and is often requested to premiere works by Brazilian contemporary composers.

Three Goshen College choirs will perform on the Sauder Concert Hall stage as part of the annual Fall Choral Concert. Performing are Chamber Choir and Vox Profundi, directed by Scott Hochstetler, and Voices of the Earth, directed by H. Roz Woll.