When Eastern Mennonite University's music department stages its fall concert Saturday, one piece will pay tribute to the memory of a Lancaster County man.

Matthew Garber, a recent university graduate, drowned in Costa Rica in July while on a mission trip. A nursing student who was to begin work at Lancaster General Hospital's emergency room in August, Garber was one of several swimmers caught in a  riptide. He was the only one who did not make it to shore.

Saturday, the university  orchestra will perform "Death Cannot Separate," an original piece by Garber's college friend and fellow university graduate, Nathan Bontrager.

"Matt and I were in Chamber Singers together; that was a big connection he and I had," Bontrager said Monday. "My interactions with Matt ranged from laughter-filled meals at lunch to leading times of reflective worship at campus 'Celebration' services."

Bontrager, an Akron native now working on his master's degree in cello performance at University of Maryland, said the music he wrote reflects his friendship with Garber and the way he thinks Garber might want to be remembered.

The music, he said, starts with a slow, lamenting tone denoting the young man's death. However, it soon becomes more "upbeat," he said, to reflect Garber's joy of life and his unique laughter.

The lyrics are from a poem by William Penn on how friends view the loss of friends, yet the words are celebratory in their tone.

"One of the goals of the piece is for friends of Matt's to articulate their feelings," Bontrager said. "I wanted it to be something that would convey to his friends what his life meant and how to understand his death and how to best grieve."

He said, "My hope is that this piece can be both a somber and grateful remembrance of a friend we dearly loved, a memorial to the extraordinary person that Matt was and will remain in our memory."

Bontrager will be there Saturday, in the orchestra, playing cello.

The concert will be held at 7 p.m. Saturday in EMU's Lehman Auditorium in Harrisonburg, Va., and will feature EMU music students and faculty performing alongside one another.

Admission is free, but donations of any amount are welcomed to benefit the music department student scholarship fund.

E-mail: lalexander@lnpnews.com