"SING AND MAKE MUSIC IN YOUR HEART TO THE LORD."  Ephesians 5:19

The Festival

​IT’S TWO DAYS OF GREAT MUSIC AND FUN! A Saturday practice and a Sunday afternoon worship concert under the baton of a distinguished guest director. Participants will taste the richness of sacred choral music in a fun setting with other children and young people who love to sing.
Open to all students in grades 3 through 9 from any faith community, the festival is held on the campus of Goshen College in Goshen, Indiana. It culminates in a Sunday afternoon 2 o’clock concert in the college’s critically acclaimed 900-seat Sauder Concert Hall. The children prepare for the festival by listening to music and learning the sheet music sent to them. In some geographic areas where enough children have registered for the event, group practices are also held in the weeks leading up to the festival.
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  • 2018 festival dates: Practice on Saturday, March 10, 2018, (9:00 am – 4:15 pm) and concert performance on Sunday, March 11, at 2 p.m. (free and open to the public)
  • Who: Children from Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan and beyond who love to sing—grades 3 through 9.
  • Cost per child: $40 for registration
  • Location: Goshen College Music Center, Sauder Concert Hall, in Goshen, Indiana.
  • 2018 guest director: Ardis Faber

Guest Director

Dr. Ardis R. Faber, Conductor
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Dr. Ardis R. Faber, Conductor, received her B.S. in Music Education, Grand Valley State University; M.M. Trumpet Performance, Northwestern University; and a Doctor of Arts – Music Education, Orchestral Conducting, Ball State University.
Currently, Ardis conducts the Lancer Chorus at Grace College and the Lakeland Community Choir and Youth Chorale, Music Director at Trinity United Methodist Church, and is owner and lead instructor of Northern Lakes Music Studio, Winona Lake, IN.
As a writer, she writes, arranges, and edits for Tim Zimmerman and The King’s Brass, serves as musician and writer for the Worship Team at Valley Springs, and is co-writer with Adriana Contino on the Lyrical Scale project. As a conductor, she has toured with choral and instrumental performance groups throughout the United States and the countries of Germany, Ecuador, Mexico, and South Korea. As a professional trumpet player, she has played with the Grand Rapids Symphony while freelancing as a soloist and as an orchestral musician.
While at Ball State, she served as an Assistant Conductor of the Ball State Symphony Orchestra. She assisted the late Dr. Fiora Contino as an assistant conductor with the 2007 BSU opera presentation, Madame Butterfly. She was privileged to have conducted the world premiere performance of 53rd Street, The Opera by composer Jody Nagel. She studied conducting with Maestros Kirk Trevor, Dr. Leonard Atherton, Bohuslav Rattay, Dr. Jan Harrington, and has studied with other conductors while participating in conducting seminars in the States. She resides in Winona Lake, IN. where she enjoys reading, riding bicycle, writing and arranging music, and enjoying the lake.
The Mission of MYCF

Your Child,
One Weekend,
​Loving Sacred Music

Each March, the Mennonite Youth Choir Festival brings children and youth together from various faith communities.  During the two-day festival, participants put the finishing touches on sacred music they have been learning over the past two months in their area rehearsals, culminating in a Sunday afternoon worship concert.
The Mennonite Youth Choir Festival was formed in 1992 with a vision for continuing and strengthening the Church’s tradition of singing in worship. At the festival and in the weeks leading up to it, children gain musical skills and an appreciation for a broad range of sacred music. Singing under the direction of gifted guest conductors, participants lead the assembly in worship.
Our children are the future of the church. Experiences like the annual Youth Choir Festival help ensure that it will be a future full of praise and music.
The mission of the Mennonite Youth Choir Festival is:
  • To assist the church with the responsibility of nurturing our children in music by training young voices to sing and appreciate the music of the church.
  • To bring together young people from Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Illinois for a quality festival experience.
  • To introduce them to professional musicians who model a love for the Lord and a profound desire to nurture young people in music of the church.
Check out this YouTube video from Sharon Lehman.
 FESTIVAL REGISTRAION FEE
$40 per singer