Dordt University to hold two final ensemble concerts this spring

Dordt University will hold two final ensemble concerts in the coming weeks.

On Friday, May 5 at 7:30 p.m. in the B.J. Haan Auditorium, the Music Department will present the Spring Choral Ensembles Concert. The music for this concert will explore the narrative arch of Creation, Fall, Redemption, Consummation, and the dichotomy between our earthly and heavenly homes. Music will range in style from spirituals and music based on Appalachian shape note singing to music from the cathedrals of Europe. A feature of the concert will be Arvo Part’s rarely performed Credo for choir, orchestra, and piano. The concert will close with Eriks Esenvalds’ triumphant Trinity Te Deum for choir, brass, percussion, and organ. As part of this concert, the Music Department will honor MaryLou Wielenga for her 45 years of faithful service to Dordt University through music. Wielenga will offer a prelude and offertory during the concert, and all are invited to a reception honoring her retirement following the choral concert in the lobby of the B.J. Haan Auditorium.

On Saturday, May 6 at 7:30 p.m. in the B.J. Haan Auditorium, the Dordt Instrumental Ensembles will give their final concert of the semester. The concert will open with Campus-Community Band performing Fanfare Prelude on God of our Fathers, followed by Ralph Vaughan-Williams's English Folk Song Suite. The Chamber Orchestra will feature a new composition by Dordt music major Aaron Galloway entitled Divertimento. In addition, the orchestra will perform the first movement of Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings. Closing the concert, the Wind Symphony will feature senior pianist Anna Rediger on John Barnes Chance’s Introduction and Capriccio, in addition to music by Bryant and Sorah, then closing the concert with John Mackey’s masterpiece The Frozen Cathedral which features antiphonal percussion to include an instrument not seen often called the waterphone.

Both concerts will be available on livestream at https://www.dordt.edu/livestream.

About Dordt University

As an institution of higher education committed to the Reformed Christian perspective, Dordt University equips students, faculty, alumni, and the broader community to work toward Christ-centered renewal in all aspects of contemporary life. Located in Sioux Center, Iowa, Dordt is a comprehensive university named to the best college lists by U.S. News and World Report, The Wall Street Journal, Times Higher Education, Forbes.com, Washington Monthly, and Princeton Review.