Greensburg, Pa. – The Sacred Music Program at Seton Hill University will present two concerts in April. On Friday, April 15, 2005 at 8 p.m., The Seton Hill University-Westmoreland County Chapter of the American Guild of Organists presents its Annual Scholarship Benefit Recital at the First Presbyterian Church of Greensburg. James Riggs will perform on the 62 rank Austin organ at the First Presbyterian Church of Greensburg, Pa. Donation at the door $10 for Seton Hill University-Westmoreland County Chapter of the American Guild of Organists’ scholarship fund. Students free.

James Riggs earned his undergraduate degree in sacred music and organ at Seton Hill University and the Master of Arts in organ performance at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Riggs is Director of Music/Organists at Plymouth Church, UCC in Shaker Heights, Ohio. At Plymouth, he oversees a diverse music program and a professional music staff in addition to serving on the Arts/Plymouth Fine Arts Series committee. Before coming to Shaker Heights, Mr. Riggs was Director of Music Ministries/Organist at the Baldwin Community United Methodist Church in Pittsburgh where he is a founding member and accompanists for the Three Rivers Choral Society. Included on Mr. Riggs’ varied program is John Knowles Paines’s “Concert Variations on the Austrian Hymn.”

On Friday, April 29, 2005, at 8 p.m. in St. Joseph Chapel at Seton Hill University student Amanda Kraeger will present a Junior Recital of works by J.S. Bach, Felix Mendelssohn, Johannes Brahms, Eugene Gigout, William Mathias, and M. Searle Wright. She performs on the recently installed A. E. Sterner organ with 82 ranks of digitally reproduced Aeolian-Skinner voices by Robert Walker.

Coming In The 2005-2006 Academic Year – Edgar Highberger, assistant professor of music and Seton Hill University organist, presents three marathon repertory sessions including “One Hundred Preludes and Postludes for Organ,” “One Hundred Sacred Vocal Solos,” and “One Hundred Anthems for Adult Choirs.” More details to come.

For information on our Certificate and Degree Programs in Sacred Music at Seton Hill University, contact Edgar Highberger, assistant professor of music and University organist at 724-838-4280, 724-830-1061 or highberger@setonhill.edu.

Seton Hill University, chartered in 1918, is a coeducational Catholic liberal arts university in Greensburg, Pa. with more than 30 undergraduate programs and eight graduate programs, including an MBA. Seton Hill brings the world to its students through its distinguished lecturers and nationally and internationally renowned centers. Recognized three times by Entrepreneur magazine as one of the nation’s Top 100 Entrepreneurial Universities, Seton Hill has also been named one of the Best Mid-Atlantic Colleges by The Princeton Review and one of Pennsylvania’s Top 100 Businesses by Pennsylvania Business Central. In addition, Seton Hill has been named a University of Distinction by Colleges of Distinction, an organization founded by a group of concerned parents, educators and admissions professionals. For more information on Seton Hill please visit www.setonhill.edu or call 1-800-826-6234.