Olivia Hartlep and Jacob Rietveld.
On Feb. 13, 2026, Jacob Rietveld and Olivia Hartlep performed their duo student recital through the Music Department. Rietveld performed nine tenor solos, Hartlep performed three on the flute and they also performed a piece together.
Prior to the recital, both talented students put an exorbitant amount of work into their craft. The reason the two did a joint recital was because they both have very full schedules due to being heavily involved throughout campus. This way, they would only need to prep 30 minutes of music each. Hartlep has been working on her songs for 10 months and was very excited to share them. Most of the practice was individual, but there was also practice together for the two’s duet piece.
On the night of this recital, there were alternating performances between Rietveld and Hartlep. Rietveld sang numerous solos in different languages including Italian, German and English. The songs were “Per la gloria d’adoravi” (“For the glory of adoring you”) by Giovanni Bononcini, “Lasciatemi morire!” (“Let me die!”) by Claudio Monteverdi, “Vittoria mio core” (“Victory my heart”) by Giacomo Carissimi, “An die Musik” (“To the Music”) by Franz Schubert, “Du bist die Ruh” (“You are the peace”) by Franz Schubert, “Allerseelen” (“All souls day”) by Franz Schubert, “The Vagabond” and “Let Beauty awake” by Ralph Vaughan Williams, and “Youth and Love” by Ralph Vaughan Williams. Throughout all these pieces, he was accompanied on the piano by music professor Juyeon Kang.
Rietveld’s bio from the concert program states, “Jacob never wants his vocal journey to close and hopes he can show the future how powerful music is. Jacob is so incredibly grateful for his amazing family that has been there for it all! Jacob’s goal is to use these gifts for the rest of his life for the glory, honor, and power of Jesus Christ. Philippians 4:6-7.”
Hartlep shared the spotlight with her excellent talents on the flute. She performed movements “Grave”, “Vivace”, “Adagio”, and “Allegro” from “Fantasia No. 2 in A Minor” by Georg Philipp Telemann, movements “Allegro Malinconcio”, “Cantilena”, and “Presto Giocoso” from “Sonata for Flute and Piano” by Francis Poulenc, and movements “Baroque” and “Blue” from “Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano Trio” by Claude Bolling. She was accompanied by Janelle Phinney on the piano in the second and third songs,and by Benjamin Geary on drums and Evan McCoy on bass in the final song.
Hartlep’s bio in the program shares that, “When she picked up the flute for the first time in 5th grade, music became a huge part of her life, and then it was set: Olivia was going to be a music teacher…. She is so grateful for all the opportunities that Northwestern College has brought her. Olivia views playing music as form of worship to our Lord.”
In addition to all these solo pieces, Rietveld and Hartlep joined forces for a song titled “Une flûte invisible” (“An invisible flute”) by Camille Saint-Saens. This piece gave the two musicians an opportunity to showcase their talents of working together and tied the recital together in a unique way.
Two students who attended the recital, Devon Miller and Ella Erickson, said they enjoyed their time listening to the music that evening.
Miller highlighted that the combination of the tenor voice and flute was very interesting for a recital, and that it was not something that one would expect.
Miller described it as Hartlep “singing with her flute” while Rietveld sang passionately with his voice. Miller stated that “both put so much effort and core into the recital, and the back and forth of their pieces almost made it feel like a banter through music.”
For Erickson, this was the second recital that she has been to this semester, and she appreciated that the combination of two students in the same recital enabled her to witness work from both. In a conversation with Cindy Moeller, one of the vocal professors at NW, Erickson learned that you need to know what you are saying even when singing in a different language. Erickson described Rietveld as doing this very well.
Hartlep’s last piece was in a jazz style, and according to Erickson, it was “not something you think of when it comes to the flute, but it was so fun to listen to and worked very well.”
After the recital, Hartlep shared (and was echoed by Rietveld) that “Both of us had so much fun and were congratulating one another after each set on stage…and we are so grateful for the gift of music and the talents the Lord has given us to use to proclaim his name….We have grown tremendously as musicians throughout this process and through the way the Northwestern College Music Department has equipped us!”
