Mountain Lake Public High School graduate Mark Suderman is chamber choir’s director
On Monday, March 2, the Bluffton University Camerata Singers chamber choir of Bluffton, Ohio, will sing at First Mennonite Church of Mountain Lake at 8 p.m. The church is located at 305 North Seventh Street. Call 507-427-2237 for details.
“Sing Ye Praises with understanding” is the theme of the program, conducted by Dr. Mark J. Suderman, professor of music and director of choral activities at Bluffton. While the first half of the program features traditional, sacred choral music, the second half will include music of more unique faith groups and styles: gospel music, spirituals, music from the Shaker and the Iona Communities, and texts by important spiritual leaders like Menno Simons and Julian of Norwich.
Included are a newly-commissioned work, “Shout for Joy all the earth,” by Dr. Peter Terry, an associate professor of information technology and music at Bluffton, as well as pieces that Camerata will perform during a cross-cultural experience in Great Britain this May.
Dr. Suderman, conductor of the chamber choir, returns to what he calls his “home community.” He attended Mountain Lake Public School, graduating in 1976, where his father, John Suderman, was a choir director and music teacher for many years. His mom is Alice Suderman. One of the choir members, Justin Neufeld Weaver, more recently attended First Mennonite Church of Mountain Lake with his family when they lived in Worthington, Minnesota.
The chamber choir was established at Bluffton University in 1984 as an outgrowth of a larger mixed choir. Camerata Singers maintains an active schedule of more than 20 annual performances on campus, in area churches and schools, and on tour. The choir tours domestically each year, plus includes international travel and study every three or four years. Camerata Singers is planning a three-week cross-cultural experience to Great Britain in May 2015. This year’s choir includes three Presidential Scholars, numerous officers in campus student organizations, athletes, and an average GPA of over 3.5.
Bluffton University’s Camerata Singers will perform in six states outside Ohio during the group’s annual spring-break tour. The 29-member, select choral ensemble will make concert stops in Indiana, Minnesota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois and Ohio from March 1-8.
