NISONOTESJanuary18,2018 Volume9,Issue2–Winter

Romancing the Violin: Winter Pops Concert Allison Wordes—Staff Writer NISO will again welcome violinist Jessica Mathaes on Saturday, January 27, as soloist at its annual Winter Pops Concert. “It’s going to be a very eclectic concert,” said Dr. Bradley Miedema, NISO music director. The night’s repertoire will include romantic era music, but also jazz, tango, and more. Everyone should be able to find something to enjoy at the upcoming concert. Mathaes offered a striking performance with the orchestra in the spring of 2010, and this year’s Winter Pops Concert gives listeners another chance to hear the talented and award-winning violinist. “She’s a tremendous solo artist,” said Miedema, who also notes that hav-ing a solo artist at a Pops concert is a bit of an unusual twist for NISO. Miedema says that the orchestra benefits from playing with soloists be-cause it gives them professional experience. The ensemble prepares the music separately before coming together at the dress rehearsal to put the pieces together.

NISO’s Winter Pops concert is always well-attended, even by those who prefer classical pieces. Familiar songs that audience members will recognize at this

year’s event include selections from the movie Schindler’s List and musi-cals like Fiddler on the Roof and Phantom of the Opera, as well as many other songs from a variety of genres and musical styles. Mathaeses’ career has included being a soloist, recording artist, educator, and concertmaster. She is currently the concertmaster of the Austin Sym-phony and has been featured with multiple orchestras, including the Na-tional Music Festival Orchestra. One interesting aspect of her experience includes traveling as a music ambassador for the United States to Singa-pore. She has also released several albums of solo music in the past ten years. “Anything you can do with violin–she can do it!” said Dr. Christopher Stanichar, NISO principal conductor. “She’s really top-notch.” “We’re glad to have her come back and play with us,” said Miedema. Come for a night of “Romancing the Vio-lin” on Saturday, January 27, at 7:30PM, in Dordt College’s B.J. Haan Auditorium. Tickets may be purchased at the door the evening of the concert. For more infor-mation, visit niso.dordt.edu.

Winter Pops Concert January 27

7:30 PM

American State Bank long time supporter of NISO Allison Wordes—Staff Writer This winter NISO Notes wishes to highlight one of its most supportive sponsors – American State Bank. “American State Bank has always believed in investing in our communities,” said T.J. Speer, VP of Loan Ad-ministration and Project Management with the bank, and also a NISO board member. The bank has supported NISO since it began, seeing it as a worthwhile partner-ship with the area schools and colleges. “We have hundreds of children being exposed to high level musical talents,” said Speer. “We have local stu-dents being given the opportunity to participate in a pro-fessional orchestra.” Students are exposed to great music without having to drive to a larger area such as Minneapolis or Chicago. The arts are important and a good investment to those at American State Bank. Music is not just performed for the history or the stories that it can tell. “Music has a way of bringing people together,” said Speer. Sioux Center and Northwest Iowa pride itself on being a place of community, and NISO creates that con-nection through its practices and performances. Ameri-can State Bank recognizes that contribution and wants to support it. NISO’s sponsors are a strong and greatly appreciated group. American State Bank is thankful to NISO for bringing so much musical talent to Northwest Iowa. And NISO in return is grateful for everything the sponsors do to bring musical success into the community.

AmazonSmile to Support NISO Allison Wordes—Staff Writer NISO is always looking for new ways to fundraise. The newest effort is through AmazonSmile. For anyone who shops with an AmazonSmile account, it is an easy way to donate to the NISO organization without extra cost! On every purchase, .5% goes towards your chosen charity—which can add up over time! To support NISO with your AmazonSmile purchases, type in “Northwest Iowa Symphony Orchestra” as the charity. Anything on Amazon listed as “Eligible for Ama-zonSmile donation” can be counted towards a donation at checkout. As you do your online shopping in 2018, don’t forget about this great opportunity to donate to NISO and to enjoy another great year of superb music!

“Anything you can do with violin-she can do it!”

-Christopher Stanichar

Celebrity Conductor 2018 Allison Wordes—Staff Writer This year’s celebrity conductors have been chosen, and the competition begins! For information on how this fundraiser works, here is a quick review. The Celebrity Conductor fundraising event is NISO’s most important fundraising performance, earning a total of $41,897.00 over the past six years. The four contestants are chosen from four different communities–Sioux Center, Orange City, Sheldon area, and Rock Val-ley area–the four corners of northwest Iowa. They may ramp up votes, a dollar each, in any way they wish, and sometimes get very crea-tive with their strategies. “When they get into it, they are so clever,” said Karen DeMol, NISO general manager. Each individual creates their “persona,” usually based on their career, dressing to make themselves stand out in the crowd. Previous contestants include a beekeeper, a newsboy, and a doctor. After intermission, the votes are counted, and the fun begins! The orchestra is then at the mercy of the new conductor. To place your vote for this event, please send donations to the contact the NISO office at at 498 4th Ave NE, Sioux Center, IA 51250.

Leanne Bonnecroy – Orange City Leanne Bonnecroy is the Director of Children’s Ministries at First Reformed Church in Orange City. Although she is not a native of Orange City, the beautiful town has indeed become her home with its Dutch festivals, endless theater/music opportunities, and strong faith-based community. Leanne was born and raised in Southern Cali-fornia, attended Dordt College, and went on to pursue her love of teaching. After 22 years of teaching God’s pre-cious gifts, His children, Leanne felt called to give the children in her community a safe ‘sanctuary’ after school, and now directs Kids’ Connection, which hosts over 200 children after school for a Bible story, snacks, crafts, and homework help. Jim, her husband of 29 years and her sons, Jack (28) and Sam (26), are Leanne’s first loves. Jim, a farm boy at heart, is employed at Animal Health International in Sioux Center. Jim and Leanne are owners of Bon Croix Vineyards in Orange City and enjoy wine-making and hosting wine-tasting parties for family and friends who

help with the grape harvest. Jack is employed at Vogel Paint in OC and is a cello player in NISO. Sam, also a cello player, is employed at Rapid City Regional Hospital and is currently finishing nursing school in Rapid City, South Dakota. The entire family loves and appreciates music, dance, and big bands. All participate in a church praise team, and in community theater productions. Leanne would be tickled pink to conduct the Northwest Iowa Symphony Orchestra! It’d be a dream come true!

Help Leanne’s dream come true! Vote for her as Celebrity Conductor!

Sidney Bulthuis – Rock Valley Sidney Bulthuis grew up in the Ice Cream Capital of the World in a family that surrounded itself with music. At LeMars Community High School, Sid actively played the violin in the Orchestra and Strolling Strings, and sang in the Choir and Show Choir. Upon graduation, Sid thought that he would some day be strolling through the halls of the Bulldogs again after a short stint as a NW Red Raider, but instead brought his high school sweetheart Christie (Veen) Bulthuis with him to Rock Valley. It is in these halls where you can find Christie as the Elementary Music Teacher and Sid on the other side of the building as the High School Math Teacher infatuated with the number π. Being in schools for his entire life, Sid still has never lost the love for a good ‘snow day’ and one could find him on any such day enjoying that white stuff with his three boys: Trygve, Miles, and Simon.

Give Sid something better than a snow day—your vote!

Nathan Frens – Sioux Center As he considers himself a wastrel and product of a misspent youth, if you asked Nathan if he’d managed to do anything right in his life, his answer would be quick and certain: giving his life to Jesus and his heart to his wife Jennifer. Outside of that, he likely wouldn’t be able to tell you why he was chosen for a contest such as this, other than the fact that his beautiful spouse was already occupied within the orchestra and the Almighty’s schedule is rather booked at the moment. At least as the Plant Manager at the local Smithfield location, Nathan smells like bacon – so he’s got that going for him. When Nathan is not making bacon, he is often exasperating his children, Sean and Caitlin, with practical jokes or pondering a form of existentialism within the contexts of the polyphonic cacophony of his multiple superegos…or something like that. One thing Nathan does care deeply about is the universality of music, and is quick to defend its necessity in light of shrinking importance when compared to

speech, sports, and other school programs. He is endlessly proud and enamored of his wife and her many talents, which is why he is pleased to be able to support NISO – an organization that has given so much to her and to so many in the community. As Jennifer’s hap-piness is paramount to him, Nathan has pledged to match any donation made to NISO to his Celebrity Conductor campaign.

Help Nathan honor his wife by voting for him!

John Vander Haag – Sanborn John was raised in Sanborn Iowa where he and his wife Amy still live. They have two sons and two daughters plus one daughter-in-law who is married to their oldest son. John is President of Vander Haag’s Inc., which spe-cializes in recycled truck parts, with six Midwest locations. John is a 1990 Graduate of Dordt college with a B.A. in Business Administration. John has been involved in various leadership roles in his church, school, and busi-ness associations. John’s last performance experience was playing trombone in the band at Western Christian High School, but he is confident that the experience of orchestrating his life and work the past 27 years will make him the perfect Celebrity Conductor this year. Help John move from recycling truck parts to conducting an orchestra!

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