Bethel kicks off its 2023-24 Organ Recital Series with a special concert at Fall Festival, featuring alumni along with the participation of a longtime former organ instructor.
The recital is at 2:30 p.m. Oct. 14 in the Administration Building chapel and is free and open to the public.
A special guest for the recital will be Dr. Shirley Sprunger King, who taught organ at Bethel from 1977-2002. She will play a duet by Burkhardt with Donna Hetrick, Olathe, Bethel’s current organ instructor.
Also on the program are Bethel graduates Chelsea Vaught, Henderson, Neb., Greta Hiebert, North Newton, Karen Unruh Schmidt, Goessel, Heidi Regier Kreider, North Newton, Christopher Shaw, Kechi, and Rosi Penner Kaufman, Prairie Village.
In addition to playing with King, Hetrick will play a piece by Herbert Howells. The program also includes works by J.S. Bach, Johannes Brahms, Dieterich Buxtehude, Louis-Nicolas Clérambault and David Cherwien.
All but Vaught studied organ with King. Shaw was a student of both King and Penner Kaufman, and Vaught of Penner Kaufman.
Other organ-related events on Oct. 14 include “The Organ at Home” at Kauffman Museum at 10:30 a.m. and a hymnsing in the Ad Building chapel at 11:30 a.m.
For the former, Penner Kaufman and Hetrick will talk about and play the Teschemacher parlor organ in the museum auditorium. Shaw will be the accompanist for the hymnsing, directed by Dr. Henry Waters from Bethel’s music faculty.
Donna Ratzlaff Hetrick (Class of 1991) is director of music and the arts at Rolling Hills Presbyterian Church in Olathe. She has a Doctor of Musical Arts in church music and organ from the University of Kansas. She has been Bethel’s organ instructor since 2013 and organizes the Organ Recital Series.
Greta Hiebert (Class of 1986) works in the Development Office at Bethel, gives administrative support to the Organ Recital Series, and is on the music rotation as an organist and pianist at her home congregation, Shalom Mennonite Church in Newton.
Rosi Penner Kaufman (Class of 1985) is minister of worship and music at Rainbow Mennonite Church, Kansas City, Kan. She has a master’s degree in organ performance from the University of Iowa, an M.A. in religious studies from Chicago Theological Seminary, and a D.M.A. in organ performance from KU. She was the organ instructor at Bethel from 2002-13, and is dividing the position with Hetrick this school year.
Heidi Regier Kreider (Class of 1983) is conference minister for Western District Conference of Mennonite Church USA and has a Master of Divinity degree from Yale Divinity School.
Christopher Shaw (Class of 2005) is the organist at Plymouth Congregational Church in Wichita and teaches vocal music at Goddard High School. He has a master’s degree in music education with an emphasis in choral conducting from Wichita State University.
Karen Schmidt Unruh (Class of 1983) is the academic assistant for the performing arts department at Hesston College and is an active organist and pianist in the area.
Chelsea Vaught (Class of 2007) is pastor of worship and congregational care at Bethesda Mennonite Church in Henderson. She has a Master of Music and a D.M.A. in church music from KU.
Bethel is a four-year liberal arts college founded in 1887 and is the oldest Mennonite college in North America. Bethel was the first Kansas college or university to be named a Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation (TRHT) Campus Center, in 2021. For more information, see http://www.bethelks.edu
