d / MATTHEW SCHLONEGER
d / MATTHEW SCHLONEGER / HESSTON, AA ’92 / GOSHEN, BA ’95 / U. of CINCINNATI, MM ’98 / HESSTON, teaches private voice, class voice, class guitar
and music theater / Was Rotary Scholar in Italy and has many credits as U.S. and international opera performer and concert artist, including Operafestival di Roma and Lucca Festival Orchestra (Italy) / How does a veteran of Italian opera and 20 | crossroads | spring 2009
a graduate of the Cincinnati conservatory, one of the top voice and opera programs in the United States, end up in Hesston, Kansas? Simple. It’s his mother’s hometown, and he is surrounded by family and friends – Ken Rodgers (pictured on page 30) is his uncle and Bradley Kauffman (on page 11) was a childhood friend in Ohio, who also went to Goshen College. / From 1996 to 2000, served
as a cantor at both Hebrew Union College and St. Mary's Catholic Church in Cincinnati. / Performs frequently with his violinist-wife Rebecca and Ken Rodgers on piano and organ as The Sunflower Trio. / Directs the Hesston-Bethel Performing Arts series, "which brings five world-class concerts to our campuses each year" and is "a great example of collaboration between two Mennonite colleges."