A highlight on Ken J. Nafziger: making music with appreciative Cubans

Fri, 07 Mar 2014 14:36:46 +0000

When President Bill Clinton cracked a window open to Cuba, permitting scholars to apply for education-centered travel permits to Cuba from 1999 to 2003, �� music professor Ken J. Nafziger seized the opportunity

He brushed off warnings on the U.S. State Department’s website about the possibility of “intense physical and electronic surveillance,” which “may involve detention and interrogation of both Cuban citizens and foreign visitors” and happily made 11 trips to Cuba in just four years, before President George W. Bush closed the window again. (President Obama re-opened it in early 2011.)

Nafziger was indeed “interrogated,” but not by the likes of the secret police, but by talented Cuban musicians eager to collaborate with, teach, and learn from musical artists like Nafziger.

“In my trips to Cuba, when the people sang, played, and listened, I heard an intensity that communicated that they needed singing for the survival of their souls,” recalls Nafziger. He sensed a spiritual depth in Cuba that, ironically, often seems lacking in its far-richer neighbor to the north.

Nafziger’s work in Cuba included major guest conducting appearances with the country’s leading orchestras and choirs, teaching master classes in a variety of musical topics, and participating with musical colleagues in a number of joint projects. In 2001, Nafziger featured Cuban music at his annual In 2003, he led to Cuba the , along with a member of the renowned gospel group “Sweet Honey in the Rock,” Ysaye Maria Barnwell.

Long before his forays to Cuba, it was clear that Nafziger was passionate about four things: music, language, travel, and perhaps most of all . . . matters of the spirit, and how the spirit is fed by music-centered worship that unites diverse peoples.

Nafziger began teaching as a music professor at �� in the fall of 1977. A graduate of Goshen College in Indiana, Nafziger arrived with a doctorate of music from the University of Oregon.

There was a lot of excitement about the around the time that Ken began teaching at ��. Nafziger led a group to Poland on his first cross-cultural trip in 1980.

“It was around the time when the Soviet Union was about to collapse and it was a really exciting time to be there,” says Nafziger. “My trips to Poland stand out to me because of the way that the Polish people used art and music. There were so many things that were denied to them—they really enjoyed art and music. It was so significant because they had so little.”

Before teaching at �� Nafziger had spent time working under a German conductor of music.

“From the years that I lived in Germany, the thing that was most rewarding was being able to converse in German,” recalls Nafziger. As a result, Nafizger-led trips have put much emphasis on learning the language of the host country.

Nafziger led two other cross-cultural trips to Munich, Germany, in 1985 and 1990. “On all of my trips, the students have been very different from each other, but through their experiences they really came together.”

In addition to the designated cross-culturals, Nafziger has conducted choral and orchestral programs in various places, including Canada, Germany, Poland, and the Soviet Union. “All of my trips have been exciting,” says Nafziger, who is married to Helen, MA ’00 (in counseling), retired director of ��’s career services. “Whether it was language instruction, history, filmmaking, or music, the people were amazing and they really wanted us to experience their culture.”

Asked to articulate the value he places on ��’s cross-cultural program, he points to the changes he sees in students. “It makes people different and re-creates them in new ways,” he says. “I am astonished the way I am so moved after every trip by what the students have to say when they return. I find myself listening to them with tears running down my face. It truly is an amazing program to be a part of.”

Ken and Helen have three children, Jeremy ’91, Kristen (Parmer) ’93 and Zachary ’01, all of them well-traveled and involved in the arts—doing writing, visual art, graphic design, and/or church music.

—Rachael Keshishian & Bonnie Price Lofton

�� alum, local stained glass artist, named to Business Journal’s ’10 Under 40′

Therran Dennis — Thu, 26 Dec 2013 16:19:42 +0000

Zachary Nafziger, owner of and sole craftsman at ZN Stained Glass, is the first to admit business may not be his strongest suit.

But the clients who nominated him for the “10 Under 40” and invest in his works, which includes the entrance to Eastern Mennonite High School — an 18½-foot piece featuring a starry night version of Midtowne Market’s logo — and glasswork for at least two dozen private establishments in the downtown Harrisonburg area, disagree.

Nafziger has more than 1,400 followers on Facebook, and he’s only been in business for eight months.

“I claim to not be a good businessman, but I’ve come up with sort of a price structure that’s extremely reasonable for one-of-a-kind regional art,” said the artisan who came to Harrisonburg by way of Morris, Minn. “It was shocking to see my Facebook page — suddenly everyone’s like, ‘Hey, you’re really good.’”

Nafziger’s success, however, did not come overnight.

After he graduated from EMHS in 1994, Nafziger followed his passion for art to the Savannah College of Art in Savannah, Ga. He remained in the port city for the next two years, before taking time to travel.

After that point, Nafziger decided he wanted focus in his life: He moved back to Harrisonburg, enrolled in and graduated from ��’s art program in 2002, and found stability as a photographer with Rosetta Stone.

“It was my first real and only job ever,” he said.

Nafziger held that position until Rosetta began cutting payroll and, eventually, employees. His layoff was a trying moment.

“I sat around for about three or four days, feeling sorry for myself,” he said. “It was weird to get dumped by something I was so connected to for 12 years. I watched the company grow and take over the entire language-learning world.”

Throughout his tenure with Rosetta Stone, Nafziger made glass part time and, at the urging of a fellow local artist, moved his home studio to The Gladys Burke Studio in Larkin Arts on Court Square, where others would have access to his works.

He signed a year lease in March and business has increased since.

“At this point, word-of-mouth has helped me so much,” he said. “People aren’t just looking for any glass; they’re looking specifically for me. When I’m meeting clients, I’m not selling something that already exists — I’m selling myself and what I can do for them.

“I want whatever I make for them to be permanent.”

Courtesy Daily News Record, Dec. 2013

Zachary Nafziger Archives - ���������� News

A highlight on Ken J. Nafziger: making music with appreciative Cubans

���������� alum, local stained glass artist, named to Business Journal’s ’10 Under 40′

Zachary Nafziger Archives - �� News

�� alum, local stained glass artist, named to Business Journal’s ’10 Under 40′