Bethel Hosts Sec­ond An­nual Mu­sic Com­po­si­tion Com­pe­ti­tion 

MISHAWAKA--Bethel Uni­ver­sity is host­ing its sec­ond an­nual 15 Hours of Mu­sic com­pe­ti­tion on Feb. 18 and 19. This year, Emma Hall, Roland Kins­man and Er­ica Kins­man are plan­ning the event. 

The event is a team com­pe­ti­tion where groups com­pose choral and in­stru­men­tal pieces about three min­utes long. The teams will be made on Feb. 18 at 4 p.m. in the Kelly Au­di­to­rium. From there, groups will split up and com­pose their pieces. A clin­i­cian will be pre­sent to as­sist groups with the com­po­si­tion. This part of the com­pe­ti­tion will go on un­til mid­night. 

Par­tic­i­pants will re­turn to the Kelly Au­di­to­rium at 7:30 a.m. the next day, Feb. 19, to con­tinue work­ing on their arrange­ments un­til 1:30 p.m., when the per­for­mances be­gin. Dur­ing this time there will also be mini games and chal­lenges pre­sented to the par­tic­i­pants. 

This year’s event will be judged by Barb Belle­feuille, Ed. D, Robert Or­tiz, Keith Ert­ner and Di­ane Ert­ner. 

“This will be su­per be­gin­ner friendly,” Hall said. “Groups will have a mixed abil­ity and ex­pe­ri­ence with mu­sic, so don’t worry about not hav­ing much ex­pe­ri­ence! Come out to be a part of some­thing dif­fer­ent or new!” 

Hall also said that even if you do not par­tic­i­pate in the event, you should come out to see the per­for­mances, which are free. 

There are posters around cam­pus with a QR code for pre-reg­is­tra­tion, but this is not re­quired. All par­tic­i­pants must do is show up at the Kelly Au­di­to­rium at 4 p.m. on Feb. 18 to par­tic­i­pate. Par­tic­i­pants also do not have to com­mit to the full 15 hours. Hall said that if some­one has a few hours they must miss, it can still work.

Hall, Roland Kins­man and Er­ica Kins­man are all ju­nior mu­sic ed­u­ca­tion ma­jors.

“Roland, Er­ica and I got in­volved in plan­ning this be­cause there aren’t re­ally se­nior mu­sic or mu­sic ed­u­ca­tion ma­jors this year,” Hall said. “Those that are se­niors are stu­dent teach­ing and su­per busy. So, we’re ba­si­cally the up­per­class­men of the pro­gram.” 

The trio also sought ad­vice from the stu­dents who hosted the first 15 Hours of Mu­sic com­pe­ti­tion last year.

“We con­nected with the two alums of the pro­gram who started this last year, Re­becca Scott and Ash­lynn Townsend,” Hall said. “We asked ques­tions and got in­for­ma­tion for how they did this. Re­becca even came back a few times to help out.”

This event is open to all Bethel stu­dents, whether they are a part of the mu­sic de­part­ment or not.