Cornell College will host a community open house at the newly-renovated Garner President’s House from 6 to 8:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 6.
Red Cedar Chamber Music flutist Jan Boland and guitarist John Dowdall will be joined by Carey Bostian, principal cellist with Orchestra Iowa, clarinetist Joseph Dieker, Cornell College’s vice president for academic affairs and dean of the college, and Mary Dieker, pianist, in a 7 p.m. concert during the open house.
The concert is free and open to the public.
Bostian, a regular member of the Red Cedar Trio, will join Boland and Dowdall on the the flamenco-inspired “Scattering” by Gary Schocker, and three iconic American popular pieces: Stephen Foster’s “Beautiful Dreamer,” George Gershwin’s “Summertime” and the traditional Shaker melody “Simple Gifts.” Boland, Dowdall and Joseph Dieker will play a movement from a 19th-Century trio by Joseph Kreutzer, and Boland and Dowdall will add a movement from the Mauro Giuliani’s “Sonata Op. 85.” Joseph and Mary Dieker will also perform “Duo for Clarinet and Piano” by Norbert Burgmuller.
The 1850 house is the oldest building on campus, predating the founding of the college by
three years. Cornell President William Fletcher King bought the house in 1864 and gave it to the college when he retired in 1908. The most recent major work on the home was completed in the late 1960s, when the heating and plumbing systems were upgraded. The house serves as both the primary residence for the president and family and as a social space where college events are held.
The new renovations included revised and expanded public and private spaces and took nearly 18 months.