Aaron Galloway, a junior biology and music double major from Pella, Iowa, received the National Federation of Music Clubs Student / Collegiate Award for his composition “Prelude and Allegro Vivo in G Minor for String Quintet.” Alice Ymker, a junior music education major from Ireton, Iowa, received the Gretchen E. Van Roy Music Education Award as well as the Elizabeth G. Wiegand Sacred Music of the Faiths Award.
Two Dordt University students have received prestigious music awards from the National Federation of Music Clubs.
Aaron Galloway, a junior biology and music double major from Pella, Iowa, received the National Federation of Music Clubs Student / Collegiate Award for his composition “Prelude and Allegro Vivo in G Minor for String Quintet.” When writing the composition, Galloway was inspired by classical music that he has listened to and studied over the last few years. Composers that influenced his work include Johannes Brahms, Robert Schumann, Felix Mendelssohn, and Franz Schubert.
“I entered the competition not expecting to win, but I am very grateful for the opportunity to receive this award,” he says. “In addition to the award, the judges provided constructive feedback that I think is just as valuable to me, as a composer, as the award itself.”
Alice Ymker, a junior music education major from Ireton, Iowa, received the Gretchen E. Van Roy Music Education Award as well as the Elizabeth G. Wiegand Sacred Music of the Faiths Award.
“I am deeply grateful to receive these awards from the National Federation of Music Clubs,” says Ymker. “I am amazed that of all the music students in the entire United States, I received not one, but two awards for my musical abilities. I extend special thanks to my music professors who encouraged me to apply for these awards.”
Ymker says she is also grateful for Dordt’s music program, especially the excellent faculty members she has worked with. “They are all outstanding musicians committed to their Christian faith and have made a lasting impact on me as a Christian, teacher, and musician.”
Galloway appreciates how Dordt’s music program seeks to honor God through creating, learning, and performing music of varying styles. “I am also really thankful for the multiple opportunities I have had for premiering my new compositions, as well as giving a junior cello recital last fall.”
Ymker is excited to begin her senior year in Dordt’s music program; she hopes to give a senior recital in October. “As a future music educator, I have gained so much valuable knowledge and musicianship for my upcoming career. I look forward to sharing God’s gift of music with people of all ages.”
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.
Two reunions 50 years in the making happened last week in Sioux Center. Kathy (Hutt, '73) Van Der Heide got to participate in her Golden Reunion at Dordt University on May 18 as well as reunite with her host mom, 98-year-old Margaret Feekes of Sioux Center.
Recent Dordt University graduate Lexi Schnaser has been awarded a prize for exceptional academic performance during the fall 2022 semester of the Scholarship and Christianity in Oxford (SCIO)’s Semester Program in Oxford, England.
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