Northwestern College (Iowa) - Musical Opportunities

Musical Opportunities

Northwestern offers ten unique musical opportunities for students. Three of these are vocal ensembles and seven are instrumental.

• Symphonic Band is a 60 member wind and percussion ensemble directed by Dr. Timothy McGarvey. Members of this ensemble hail from across the United States and from as far away as Taiwan. This group plays a diverse repertoire and goes on an annual tour. Previous tours have taken the group to Mexico, the Pacific Northwest, Southern California, Venezuela, and Ukraine.
• A cappella Choir is a 65 member vocal ensemble directed by Dr. Thomas Holm. Members of this ensemble come from a variety of majors as well as backgrounds. Music is selected from all musical time periods ranging from works by Palestrina to modern pieces by Eric Whitacre. This group has also participated in a performance of Mozart's Requiem. This ensemble's annual tour has taken it to Czech Republic, Southern California, New York State, and Austria.
• Heritage Singers is a select group of taken from the A cappella Choir directed by Dr. Thomas Holm. This elite group has recently performed a full madrigal dinner as well as the comic operetta Die Fledermaus and evening opera showcase. In addition to these larger productions, the ensemble also performs character pieces and tours with the A cappella Choir each spring. This group has also recently performed with the Northwest Iowa Oratorio Chorus in the Messiah (Handel), Haydn's Missa in tempore belli, and J.S. Bach's St John Passion.
• Jazz Band is a select ensemble consisting of 18 instrumentalists that is directed by Dr. Timothy McGarvey. This group features a variety of jazz styles and composers. This group has been involved in 'Battle of the Bands' with neighboring colleges as well as providing the music for Northwestern's Ballroom Dance each spring.
• Chamber Ensembles (Brass Quintet, String Quartet, and Woodwind Quintet) are select groups that involve Northwestern's best musicians in their respective areas. Each ensemble performs at a joint concert each semester as well as special events on campus. These events have included the dedication of campus buildings and for the inauguration of President Greg Christy.
• Percussion Ensemble is a select group of percussion players. This group includes individuals whose primary instrument is percussion as well as wind players, string players, and vocalists who have experience with percussion. This group performs a variety of music ranging from minimalist music to phase music and a variety of other genres.
• Chamber Orchestra is a group of 25 string players that is directed by Dr. Kimberly Utke-Svanoe. This group performs several times each year. Music is chosen from earlier periods as well as the 20th century. This group also includes wind players for an occasional performances when the music calls for them.
• Women's Choir is a group of 40 musicians directed by Dr. Linell Moss. This ensemble performs music from the Renaissance through the 20th century. This group also took part in the chorus of Northwestern's Award-Winning Original Musical "Terror Texts".