A Festival of Carols is Goshen College’s annual Christmas music celebration. This event promises a cheerful experience for the Goshen College community, bringing together the talents of four choirs and an orchestra in a festive celebration of the holiday season.

“A Festival of Carols” is a heartwarming presentation patterned on a traditional English worship service, featuring Christmas carols, spirituals, scripture readings and sacred musical works. Sauder Concert Hall will be transformed into a winter wonderland, adorned with garlands, lights and trees, creating a magical atmosphere for all attendees.

The stellar lineup of performers includes the Goshen College Chamber Choir, Vox Profundi, Voices of the Earth, Goshen College Symphony Orchestra and Shout For Joy Children’s Choir. Roz Woll, assistant professor of music, and Scott Hochstetler, professor of music, lead the Goshen College choirs, while Jimin Seo, assistant professor of music, directs the Goshen College Symphony Orchestra and Sandy Hill directs the Shout For Joy Children’s Choir.

Audience participation is a key feature of the event, with attendees invited to join the choirs in singing familiar carols during the performance. This interactive element adds a communal touch to the festivities, making “A Festival of Carols” an engaging experience for everyone.

Tickets for sale to the general public beginning Monday, November 3, 2025. The Sunday afternoon performance will be live-streamed.

Lavender Jazz, Goshen College’s big band, will present their fall concert in Sauder Concert Hall. LJ is directed by Greg Smucker.

The Goshen College Symphony Orchestra, directed by Jimin Seo, will present their fall concert in Sauder Concert Hall.

Voices of the Earth, Goshen College’s treble chorus directed by H. Roz Woll, will perform alongside invited high school high voice choirs from the surrounding community in Sauder Concert Hall.

The Goshen College Choirs will present their first full concert of the 2025-26 academic year in Sauder Concert Hall. Performing are the Goshen College Chamber Choir and Voices of the Earth, directed by H. Roz Woll, and Vox Profundi, directed by Scott Hochstetler.

Vox Profundi, Goshen College’s low voice choral ensemble, will be joined by low voice ensembles from area schools and the community for a day of rehearsals and workshops, culminating in an evening festival concert in Sauder Concert Hall. Vox Profundi is directed by Scott Hochstetler.

Goshen College’s instrumental and choral ensembles will perform in Sauder Concert Hall as part of the annual Homecoming Music Gala, part of Goshen College’s annual Homecoming activities. Traditionally seen as the first opportunity to hear this years’ ensembles, there will be performances by  Voices of the Earth, directed by H. Roz Woll, and the GC Chamber Choir and Vox Profundi, directed by Scott Hochstetler, as well as the Symphony Orchestra, directed by Jimin Seo.

Parables, a worship ensemble from Goshen College, combines music, original drama, and stories to create an engaging worship experience designed to inspire, comfort, and challenge. Parables will present their first concert of the academic year in Rieth Recital Hall in the Goshen College Music Center.

Faces that disappear from drivers’ licenses. Paintbrushes that paint on their own. Photographs that literally come to life right before your eyes. Brace yourself for a whole new take on magic and step into Vitaly’s world. Hailed as “one of the most unique and innovative illusionists in the world” (Chicago Tribune), Vitaly Beckman stumped Penn & Teller three times on their hit TV show Fool Us and starred in his own 16-week off-Broadway run. Blending art and illusion with his captivating style, Vitaly Beckman’s one-of-a-kind theatrical experience retraces his journey from a boy with a dream to a man with a vision. During this journey, the audience rediscovers, along with Vitaly, the importance of finding beauty and wonder in everyday life and in all living things.

“Amazing magic! Ingenious!”
– Penn & Teller

Grammy-nominated Mariachi Los Camperos’ abundant accolades and performances on premier concert stages can easily obscure the fact that its leaders come from humble roots deep within a mariachi tradition. The group’s founder, Nati Cano, forged his own mariachi group in 1961 from his artistic vision and determination. Until his death in 2014, he challenged the attitudes that led formally trained musical peers to look down on his beloved rural and working-class music. In the words of Jesús “Chuy” Guzmán, his disciple and successor as Camperos leader, “He wanted to have a mariachi that would have dignity, that would have heart, that would have soul, and he made Los Camperos.”

“The Los Angeles-based Mariachi Los Camperos is considered by many to be the finest mariachi ensemble in the world. Undoubtedly, it has played a central role in the United States in raising both the artistic standards and the public perceptions of mariachi music.”
– The National Folk Festival