Northrop’s building will reopen starting Mon, Jan 30. The garages are open.
The Bistro at Northrop will reopen Tue, Jan 31.
The Bistro at Northrop will reopen Tue, Jan 31.
In his 41st and final year as University of Minnesota Organist and Professor of Music, Dean Billmeyer collaborates with the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies’ (GTCYS) flagship orchestra—Symphony—to celebrate his illustrious career as a performer and educator. The program features Billmeyer on Poulenc’s Concerto for Organ, Strings, and Timpani, as well as Dvořák’s complete New World Symphony. This exciting collaboration stretches across generations and celebrates the best of the Twin Cities’ musical talent.
"a concert by University organist Dean Billmeyer … gave the restored Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ a workout, filling our ears and rattling our bones.” —MinnPost
The content below derives from the Northrop Across Campus Program that supports Northrop's mission towards intersections between performing arts and education for the benefit of all participants now and for generations to come.
Find ways to make thematic connections to these suggested courses:
Take a deeper dive with these resources that provide additional information about the performers, the history of the artform, and the artistic process.
University of Minnesota – School of Music – Dean Billmeyer
Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies – website
Northrop’s Aeolian-Skinner Pipe Organ
The New York Times – Let’s Make the Future That the ‘New World’ Symphony Predicted – Find at the U of M Library
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In this special event, Northrop—along with the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies’ (GTCYS) flagship orchestra, Symphony–will be collaborating with Dean Billmeyer to celebrate his retirement from an illustrious 41-year teaching career at the University of Minnesota. The program features Billmeyer on Poulenc’s Concerto for Organ, Strings, and Timpani, as well as Dvořák’s complete New World Symphony.
Dean Billmeyer has been teaching at the University of Minnesota School of Music since 1982. Not only is he the primary organ professor, but he also specializes in the harpsichord, keyboard skills and accompaniment, literature and pedagogy, music theory, and sacred music.
As one of the country’s leading youth orchestra programs, GTCYS typically serves more than 1,000 students ages 8-18 through year-round programs. Rather than capping enrollment, GTCYS continually expands its programming to meet growing interest and community needs, including providing spaces for underrepresented youth.
An active music educator, Mark Russell Smith was named GTCYS’ Artistic Director in 2012, and has served as Artistic Director of Orchestral Activities at the University of Minnesota since 2007. As GTCYS Symphony’s conductor, he has led the orchestra on international tours and—through his work at the University of Minnesota—has spearheaded artistic exchange programs with German and American students, including study and performances on both sides of the Atlantic.
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.