Music Department Chair Mark Goodenberger announced his retirement and performed “The Errors Tour: Stumbling my way to the finish line” in Hertz Concert Hall, located in McIntyre Hall. Organized by Joshua Gianola, percussion students joined together to make sure Goodenberger’s final performance at CWU was unforgettable.
When Goodenberger was 42, he taught at Lewis and Clark College. Then, he decided it was time for a move. After 24 years of teaching at CWU, he is ready to work on his own music and spend time with his family.
The name playing off Taylor Swift, the performance showcased a mix of humor and melodic percussion pieces. 8-10 songs performed were written and composed by Goodenberger. CWU alumni participated in two pieces, titled “Shala!” and “YeYe,” the first being performed across the auditorium, with snare drums surrounding the audience.
Gianola started off the concert with a speech dedicated to Goodenberger, being a student under him, and incorporating humor by eating bananas during the middle of his speech. Goodenberger stumbled his way onto the stage and prepared the auditorium for his last concert. It wasn’t until the third song that a discarded banana peel was picked up off the stage.
The first performance, titled “It’s a Jungle in Here!” was a simulated jungle environment. The lights were turned off, and a plethora of percussion instruments were used to replicate bird calls, gusting wind and rainfall. One act titled “Ballero” had Goodenberger wearing a wig, roller skates and playing a slide whistle whilst being guided across the stage.
“I love mixing beauty and comedy. I like that, the combination of you open people up with things (music) and then you can either make them cry, or you can make them laugh. I was working in a college city before I came here. When you’re in Ellensburg, this is the culture, this is the city. We think of this as our main place to perform and have our culture,” Goodenberger said.
About halfway through the concert, four students performed a song called “Budapest Romp,” one of whom was Joshua Gianola. All those students had gone to Spain and ended up learning the song in an hour while they were there. Following shortly after was a piece called “Manic” by Goodenberger himself, his wife Denise Dillenbeck on violin, and his daughter Noelle Goodenberger providing an opera-like vocal set to the song.
To end off his final concert, the Music Department Chair wanted to showcase both his love for autumn and his love for Central, which is why his last song performed is called “Leaves,” being a double entendre. The long-time professor had an unexpected outro, pulling out a leaf blower from the back of the auditorium and blowing his students off the stage.
Goodenberger, along with the percussion ensemble, received a standing ovation for nearly five minutes.
Though for some students, they are saying goodbye to an era, for Goodenberger, this is time well spent, knowing that the department will be in the care of Joshua Gianola.
“I’m so grateful and honored to have been here that long and to be able to have great colleagues and people that I’ve worked with that support me … I not only just feel confident in him (Joshua Gianola) carrying on a tradition, I am also excited to see how he takes it differently, because he’s so creative, and the students really like him. I couldn’t be happier to leave and see something I’ve cared about so much just take in its own way and go, it’s really beautiful … I want to perform and write after this. I already left my teachings and made my mark on the world,” Goodenberger said.
