Wayne Dietterick, Organist, Composer in Residence, Bass

Wayne Dietterick, Organist, Composer in Residence, Assistant Conductor and Bass, a PA native and a long-time NJ resident, has served as an organist and choir director in four Lutheran congregations in New Providence, Summit, Warren and New Brunswick, as well as in a Roman Catholic parish in Warren and an Episcopal parish in Scotch Plains.

Wayne has composed and arranged over 200 works, which have been performed by choirs internationally. In 2017, he was commissioned by the Susquehanna University Department of Music to compose extended musical settings of three Reformation-oriented hymns of his own choosing (From Heaven Above to Earth I Come; Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in Your Word; Christ is Arisen) for choir, organ and orchestra in celebration of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.

In 2018 Caritas performed an entire concert of his works entitled Yet I Will Rejoice, where he also conducted. Caritas has also premiered a number of Wayne's choral works written for them, including Christ, the Very Light of the World and Though the Fig Tree Does Not Blossom, which was performed at the 2008 National Pastoral Musicians Convention with the Metuchen Diocesan Chamber Choir.

Wayne holds a bachelor's degree in music education cum laude from Susquehanna University, with an emphasis in choral directing and organ performance. Additionally, he studied organ privately with Dr. Leonard Raver of the Julliard School and sang and studied with Robert Shaw, Alice Parker and Robert Page. In June of 2016, he participated in the Lehigh University Choral Composers Forum under the direction of Composer-Conductor Steven Sametz, who is the Ronald J. Ulrich Professor of Music and director of Lehigh University Choral Arts, and Sven-David Sandström, Adjunct Faculty Emeritus in Composition at the Jacobs School of Music of Indiana University, Bloomington, IN. Wayne’s choral work, entitled Effortlessly, composed during the Composers Forum, was premiered by The Princeton Singers on June 25, 2016 at Lehigh’s Zoellner Arts Center’s Baker Hall.

Wayne expresses his appreciation to Barbara and Caritas members for the opportunity to be a part of Caritas - a chorale comprised of true artists who are devoted to the beauty of a cappella singing and to helping those in need.