Retiring Music Professor Mark Goodenberger to present farewell concert Sunday

The Central Washington University Music Department is hosting a special farewell concert featuring Professor Mark Goodenberger on Sunday, May 3, in the McIntyre Music Building.

After 24 years at CWU, the Music Department Chair will be presenting “The Errors Tour: Stumbling my way to the finish line” as he prepares to retire at the end of spring quarter. The free concert at 3 p.m. in the Hertz Concert Hall will also feature the CWU Percussion Studio, along with guest appearances by CWU Music alumni and colleagues.

Goodenberger is a percussionist and composer who previously served as CWU’s Director of Percussion Studies before becoming department chair in 2022. He is a specialist in symphonic and chamber music, and he has worked with dozens of world-renowned composers such as Steve Reich, Libby Larsen, Chen Yi, Zhou Long, Tomas Svoboda, and Chinary Ung.

As a concert recitalist, Goodenberger performs many of his own pieces, written for a wide variety of instruments. His compositions range from solos to works for mixed ensembles, to pieces that join elements of theater, dance and vaudeville into the diverse world of percussion. He is also active as a baroque specialist, performing the kettledrums with the Portland Baroque Orchestra, Seattle Baroque, and Trinity Consort.

Goodenberger is a Yamaha performing artist, a member of the Vic Firth Education team, and is proud to endorse the Goodenberger G-LINE Mix marimba mallets made by Amy Putnam Mallets. He holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Lewis and Clark College and a Master’s of Music Performance from the University of Michigan.

In 2013, he was awarded the Outstanding Faculty Artistic Achievement Award by the CWU College of Arts and Humanities.

If you have questions about Sunday’s retirement concert, email music.department@cwu.edu or call 509-963-1216.