NDSU Performing Arts

Our own Dr. Dwight Jilek is presenting a pre-conference session at the ACDA of Minnesota Summer Dialogue in July! Register for “Fully Present at the Podium: Engaging Your Whole Person” to explore core conducting techniques that help engage your singers physically and emotionally in the learning and performing process. Seats are limited. Register here: https://bit.ly/49YyYmB

Join us at Summer Dialogue 2026 for Back to Basics: Nuts & Bolts 🎶

Join Dr. Dwight Jilek in exploring conducting and rehearsal techniques to fully engage and inspire you and your singers to bring the music to life! Participants will conduct, rehearse, and sing in an ensemble, exploring the following:
- Basic core principles of how gesture affects sound
- Learning quick adaptations in gesture to enable free and confident singing in multiple styles
- Experiencing rehearsal techniques that engage you and the singers completely (physically and emotionally) in the learning and performing process
- Accessing the “why” in what we do, and using it to feed our musical inspiration and be fully present at the podium

Space for this session is limited, so register today! https://acda-mn.com/summer-dialogue-registration/

Our adjunct piano professor Dr. Thiago André Ferreira recently had the honor of managing the 2026 PianoArts Competition & Music Festival in Milwaukee, WI, with our grad student Cody Pepitone along to assist! Contestants from countries like China, Israel, Vietnam, and the United States participated. This is another great example of how our faculty and students continue to “do the work” in their creative fields, represent NDSU, and offer their artistic talents during the summer!

📸: Pat Robinson

After months of planning and rehearsing, the 2026 International Choir Tour to Sweden and Norway is complete! 🇸🇪🇳🇴 The NDSU Concert Choir performed its final concert last night in Bergen, Norway, with the Ole Bull Kammerkor at the stunning Bergen Cathedral.

Thank you to everyone who made this tour a success, including NDSU - The Office of Global Programs and Services, Gateway Music Festivals & Tours, and all of our amazing hosts in Sweden and Norway. It was an honor to perform for you in your glorious part of the world. Go Bison! 🤘