Dordt Music Department to welcome guest artists

Dordt University Music Department will feature a guest artist recital on Friday, October 20, at 7:30 p.m. in the B.J. Haan Auditorium, presenting Dr. Mariane Lemieux-Wottrich, voice, and Dr. Tyler Wottrich, piano. They will also each be presenting simultaneous masterclasses on October 20, at 3 p.m.

"We’re excited to visit Dordt and present a program with many personal ties,” says the artists’ statement.

The two will present the world premiere of two songs written by Dr. Tyler Wottrich based on the text from “The Lord of the Rings” by J.R.R. Tolkien, share the artists.

“Mariane will share some selections in her native French language, including Poulenc’s vivid illustration of the beautiful complexities and inevitable dualities of love and life in his cycle "Fiançailles pour rire"; and we will end the program with a lively and comical American song from 1910, unearthed for us by a music collector colleague, that describes well our family reality since having two children: “She Used to Sing Grand Opera But Now it’s Lullaby.” This song will be surrounded by a "grand opera" aria from Lakmé and followed by an actual lullaby expanded with virtuosic vocal fireworks (we promise this version of "twinkle, twinkle" will not put you to sleep!),” the artist statement states.

Dr. Mariane Lemieux-Wottrich has her D.M.A. from Stony Brook University, and specializes in French repertoire, presenting recitals, masterclasses, and workshops across the country and abroad. She currently teaches at North Dakota State University.

Pianist Dr. Tyler Wottrich has distinguished himself as a chamber musician, vocal pianist, solo performer, and teacher. Wottrich is an Associate Professor at North Dakota State University’s Challey School of Music, where he created a graduate collaborative piano program and serves as artistic director of the NDSU Chamber Music Festival. He completed his M.M. and D.M.A. as a Staller Fellow at Stony Brook University where he studied with Gilbert Kalish.

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 the Wall Street Journal, Times Higher Education, Forbes.com, Washington Monthly, and Princeton Review.