2001
The Voice: Spring 2001
Campus Capsules
Music department brings variety of performers to campus
Dordt's music department keeps the college calendar full. Not only do Dordt musicians perform
regularly, but during February and March students had several opportunities to hear and talk to
visiting musicians as well. The Bel Canto Children's Choir of Omaha, Nebraska, a group that
has toured around the world, performed on February 23.
On February 26 and 27, composer Jean Berger, who is ninety-one, led vocal and choral
workshops for Dordt students. Both individual students and Dordt choirs performed his works at
an evening concert. Berger has composed theater works, song cycles, solo compositions, and
choral pieces throughout his long career.
Composer Michael Burkhardt led a hymn festival on campus on March 9 in which audience and
choirs sang his original and arranged hymns. The highlight of the festival was a Dordt-
commissioned work by Burkhardt for choirs, brass, strings, and organ based on Psalm 145.
Although the March 23 appearance of the Des Moines Opera was primarily for local elementary
school students, music students also benefitted from the opportunity to hear and interact with
professional musicians.
Student article published
Senior chemistry major Cheryl Vos had an article published in the January 2001 issue of the
refereed chemistry journal Analytical Sciences. The article, titled “Violet Diode Laser for Metal
Ion Determination by Capillary Electrophoresis -- Laser Induced Fluorescence” and co-authored
by Jeremy E. Melanson and Dr. Charles A. Lucy, grew out of research Vos did as part of an
undergraduate summer scholarship program in Canada organized by the National Science and
Engineering Research Counsel (NSERC). Vos held a research position at the University of
Alberta in Dr. Lucy's chemistry lab.
Dordt hosts its last Staley lecturer
Dr. Adrienne Dengerink Chaplin, senior member in philosophical aesthetics at the Institue for
Christian Studies in Toronto, was the final Staley Foundation lecturer to visit Dordt's campus.
Chaplin gave two lectures, “Beyond Words: The Voice of Art in a Deafening World” and
“Fascination or Sensation: Post Modern Art and the Shock of the Old.” She also spoke to the
college community in chapel on the topic “Waiting in Pain: The Art of Redemptive Longing.”
The Staley Foundation, which has funded guest lecturers to campuses for decades, has
discontinued funding for its lecture program.
Construction progresses
In spite of the early onset of winter, construction on the Campus Center continued on pace
through recent months. Last month steel girders were erected and now the shape of the building
is becoming evident. Most of the shell sould be in place within two months--perhaps in time for
graduation. The architect is currently working with administrators on sub-contracting the
electrical and plumbing for the building. You can keep an eye on progress by logging on the
website:
http://www.dordt.edu/services/campus_center/.
