NW Iowa News

Dordt College issued the following announcement on Aug. 24.

Dr. Carrie Groenewold, associate professor of church music and organ at Dordt University, will perform an organ recital on September 5 at 7:30 p.m. in the B.J. Haan Auditorium. The community can look forward to organ repertoire ranging from the Baroque period to the composers of our time.

Groenewold’s passion for playing the organ began when she first encountered Dordt University’s Casavant organ at Dordt Discovery Days summer camp in seventh grade. With encouragement from her family members, Groenewold continued her pursuit in musical studies. She attended Dordt, graduating with a B.A. in Organ Performance and Church Music. From Notre Dame University, she received a Master of Sacred Music Degree, followed by a D.M.A. in Church Music from the University of Kansas.

In her studies, she experienced formative opportunities that propelled her passion for this unique instrument, working as a graduate assistant for the Notre Dame Women’s Choir, as well as traveling to different continents on academic tours to play historic organs and participating in master classes with major European artists.

After serving at multiple churches as Organist-Choirmaster and Director of Music, as well as being featured organist on NPR’s Pipedreams Live, she is now back at her alma mater. Groenewold holds the Joan Ringerwole Chair of Church Music and Organ at Dordt University, where she gives private organ instruction, teaches courses, directs the Bella Voce Women’s Chorus, and oversees the keyboard department.

Groenewold resides in Sioux Center, Iowa, with her husband Jevon and their three children, where she is delighted to be back teaching on the very instrument that captivated her interest in her youth.

The performance is free and open to the public.

Original source: https://www.dordt.edu/news/57994