The Quad City Symphony Orchestra is proud to announce that Michele Ottesen and Dortha DeWit will be conducting Youth String Ensemble and Prelude Strings respectively beginning in the 2014-15 season. They will join QCSYEs Music Director Benjamin Klemme and Youth Choir Director Mary Tallitsch to round out the QCSYEs conducting staff. This year both Prelude Strings and String Ensemble were conducted by Interim Conductor John Schultz who will be leaving to devote his time to Schultz Strings, performing as a freelance violinist and teaching privately in the Iowa City area.
Prelude Strings and String Ensemble are introductory ensembles for young string musicians with a focus on improving technique, developing ensemble skills, and acquiring performance experience. The season will kick off with the August 16/17 retreat for all QCSYEs groups and begin regular rehearsals on Thursday nights. These two groups will appear on all three QCSYEs concerts, including the Side by Side concert on February 22. Admittance to String Ensemble (and Youth Philharmonic and Youth Symphony) is based on a live audition held in early June. Participation in Prelude Strings requires no audition, only a completed online application form and a teacher's recommendation. All information to be posted soon at the QCSO website.
Michele Ottesen is currently in her 6th year as the orchestra director at Davenport North and Wood Intermediate School. A native of Davenport, Ms. Ottesen spent seven years as a member of the Quad City Youth Symphony under the direction of James Dixon and Daniel Culver. She holds a BFA from Carnegie Mellon University, and a MM from the University of Michigan. Her principal violin teachers include Doris Preucil, Andrés Cárdenes, and Stephen Shipps. Prior to returning to the Quad Cities, Ms. Ottesen was a member of the Dakota String Quartet, and served as principal second violin in the South Dakota Symphony. She has been a member of the Quad City Symphony since 1998.
Dortha DeWit was born in Anchorage, Alaska and grew up in Michigan. Her early violin studies were with her mother, Jean Manning, also a violinist, teacher and conductor; later teachers included Romeo Tata, Roland and Almita Vamos, Richard Young, and Josef Gingold. She
holds a Bachelor of Music degree in violin performance from Oberlin Conservatory of Music and a Master of Music from Indiana University, where she also did doctoral coursework. She has performed with orchestras and in solo and chamber recitals throughout the Midwest. In addition to maintaining a private violin and viola studio, Mrs. DeWit teaches at Augustana College. She has also taught at St. Ambrose University and has done lessons and workshops for public schools including the North Muskegon (MI) Public Schools and the Davenportand Bettendorf School Districts. Her orchestral experience includes the Quad City Symphony, where she is currently assistant principle second violin, West Shore Symphony, Grand Rapids Symphony, and the Clinton Symphony, in addition to working with orchestras in Quincy IL, Galesburg IL, and Evansville IN. Mrs. DeWit conducted the SEISTA Junior Honors Orchestra in 2014. She helped found the Quad City Youth Symphony Youth String Ensemble and was its principal conductor for twenty-two years, and she was also instrumental in forming the Quad City Youth Prelude Strings, conducting that ensemble for five years. Mrs. DeWit is 30-year member of the Quad City Symphony as well as playing in the Serenata String Trio and a clarinet, violin and piano trio at Augustana College.
We are all looking forward to a wonderful 2014-15 season. Please don't forget that the final QCSYEs concert will be on May 4, 2014 at Centennial Hall, Augustana College, in Rock Island. You can purchase tickets to this season finale here.
