Dakota Days closes with ‘A Joyful Noise’

Dakota Days week came to a close on Sunday afternoon with a resounding performance from the Gesteland-Smith duo.

The “Make a Joyful Noise” event showcased the talents of Tracelyn Gesteland, an associate professor of voice in the USD music department and an active opera performer, as well as Wyatt Smith, an organist and a doctoral student at the University of Washington, who graduated from USD in 2013.

Gesteland and Smith said the idea to perform as a duo began during a voice lesson that Smith had taken with Gesteland.

“We started talking about this during a voice lesson,” Gesteland said. “Wyatt studied voice with me for a semester and we were talking about one of his commissions so why don’t we try and commission something together.”

The performance included pieces from the late 19^th century to the 21^st century. Gesteland said they wanted to find a balance between standard and traditional music versus contemporary works.

During their performance, the duo also premiered two pieces, including one that Smith had commissioned especially for Gesteland. Smith said that he loves to commission pieces in general and that when he noticed a hole in the program he decided to commission a piece with Gesteland’s favorite Bible passage, Psalm 46.

“It was a total surprise,” Gesteland said. “All of the sudden when we had decided to put the program together and then Wyatt said guess what I have another piece. It was very exciting.”

Emily Vidler, a sophomore who is double-majoring in Spanish and vocal performance, said she attended the event as a part of her concerts requirement, however, she said she was glad she attended the event because she wanted to hear and learn from singers such as  Gesteland.

“I think the incorporation of lots of 20^th and 21^st century was particularly interesting because even as a music student when I think of organs, I think of Bach,” Vidler said. “But half of the music was newer which was very interesting and nice. ”

Gesteland said she would encourage students to attend similar events because college allows students to explore a wide variety of things and cultural events help make students well-rounded.

“Try a little of everything,” Gesteland said. ”You might find out that you really enjoy something that you might not have thought about before.”

(Photo: The “Make a Joyful Noise” event showcased the talents of Tracelyn Gesteland, an associate professor of voice in the USD music department and an active opera performer, as well as Wyatt Smith, an organist and a doctoral student at the University of Washington, who graduated from USD in 2013. Sydney Mook / The Volante)