David Dickau
After an early career working with orchestras and choirs in large churches, Dickau joined the Minnesota State Mankato faculty in 1991. One of his major goals after leaving the world of church music was to take recognized poetry and set the lyrics to music for choirs. "It was something that I really wanted to do…that I desired to do," says Dickau.
In doing so, Dickau has carved himself a niche in the musical world. He's been 
commissioned by local, state and national organizations, ranging from the Minnesota All–State Choir to the Charles A. Lindbergh Foundation. "I've been really fortunate to have had people ask me to write music for them," he says. "I didn't plan it as a career, but one of the greatest things about it is that it leads to a personal connection I would not have made otherwise."
For example, Dickau was commissioned by Timothy Sawyer, the Director of Choirs at Northwestern College, to write a piece to be performed by Sawyer's choir as a musical 
gift for the people of Dresden, Germany. The performance was in honor of the rebuilding of their church, where thousands of innocent refugees were killed when the church was bombed near the end of World War II. Both Dickau and his wife accompanied the choir to Dresden to hear the premier of the piece and were able to speak with several survivors of the bombing following the concert. "It was a humbling and moving experience to talk with these survivors and feel like I somehow had been honored to touch history," says Dickau.
And that's only one example. Dickau's compositions are being used across the nation to express the thoughts and feelings of many. And although he enjoys the composing process, it is experiences like the one in Dresden that make his work worthwhile. "It really is a cathartic event," he says. "It's the power of the text and the music. It helps people communicate and express their innermost feelings—that's what it's all about."
