Anton Armstrong
Adult Mixed Choir Conductor
In-Depth Seminar
Special Interest Session

Anton Armstrong is the Harry R. and Thora H. Tosdal Professor of Music at St. Olaf College and Conductor of the St. Olaf Choir. He assumed this position in 1990 following 10 years in Grand Rapids, Michigan where he served on the faculty of Calvin College and conducted the Campus Choir, the Calvin College Alumni Choir and the Grand Rapids Symphony Chorus.  In June 1998, Armstrong began his tenure as founding conductor of the Oregon Bach Festival Stangeland Family Youth Chorale Academy.

A graduate of St. Olaf College, Armstrong earned a Master of Music degree at the University of Illinois and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Michigan State University. He. serves as editor of a multicultural choral series for Earthsongs Publications and is co-editor of the revised St. Olaf Choral Series for Augsburg Fortress Publishers. He is featured with André Thomas on an instructional video on adolescent singers entitled Body, Mind, Spirit, Voice. He is a contributing writer to Volume I of Teaching Music through Performance in Choir and a contributor to Way Over in Beulah Lan’ by André Thomas.

Armstrong conducted the St. Olaf Choir in critically acclaimed solo concert performances at the 59th National Conference of the Music Educators National Conference, the Sixth World Symposium on Choral Music, and the 1999 National Convention of the American Choral Directors Association in Chicago, Illinois. In 2005, the St. Olaf Choir shared the stage with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in presenting the finale concert for the national conference of the American Choral Directors Association at the Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles, California. Also that year, the St. Olaf Choir performed for President George W. Bush, First Lady Laura Bush and their guests for the National Day of Prayer held in the East Room of the White House.

Armstrong is active as a guest conductor and lecturer throughout the world. He has guest conducted such noted ensembles as the Utah Symphony and Symphony Chorus, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the Westminster Choir, the American Boychoir, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and most recently the Formosa Singers of Taiwan. He has also collaborated in concert with Bobby McFerrin and Garrison Keillor. In December 2008, he presented a three-day seminar in Israel, "The Hebrew Characters in the African American Spiritual," at the invitation of Hallel--The Israeli Choral Directors Association in Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem.  He will return to Israel in August 2010 to conduct the 2010 Zymriya-the World Assembly of Choirs.

Baylor University selected Anton Armstrong from a field of 118 distinguished nominees to receive the 2006 Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teaching and he served as a visiting professor at Baylor during the Spring of 2007.  In October 2009 he was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award from Michigan State University.

back to top

Christopher Aspaas
Women's Choir Conductor
In-Depth Seminar
Special Interest Session

Assistant Professor of Choral/Vocal Music at St. Olaf College, Christopher Aspaas received his Ph.D. in Choral Music Education at The Florida State University in Tallahassee, his M.M. in Choral Conducting from Michigan State University in East Lansing, and his B.M. in Voice Performance from St. Olaf. Christopher has served on the faculties of Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington and Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts. At St. Olaf, Aspaas conducts the Viking Chorus, an 88-voice ensemble of first-year student men, and also leads the Saint Olaf Chapel Choir, a 120-voice ensemble specializing in the performance of oratorio and larger multi-movement works. Most recently, Aspaas led the Chapel Choir and St. Olaf Orchestra in a performance of Felix Mendelssohn’s monumental oratorio, Elijah. In addition to conducting, he teaches choral literature, choral conducting, and private applied voice. In 2008, Aspaas was appointed as the Music Director and Conductor for Magnum Chorum, a Twin Cities choral ensemble who is “Transforming Audiences through Artistry and Spirit.”

His travels as a guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator have taken Aspaas to Alaska, Florida, Illinois, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and the Sultanate of Oman. He has conducted All-State Choruses in South Dakota and Wisconsin, and is scheduled to lead All-State Choruses and Honor Choirs in Virginia, Kentucky, and Minnesota in 2009-2010.

Aspaas is also active as a tenor soloist, performing Bach cantatas with Helmuth Rilling and the Oregon Bach Festival Orchestra, the Evangelist roles in the John and Matthew Passions of Bach with the Bach Collegium of Fort Wayne, Ind., and other solo roles with the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, and the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra and the St. Petersburg Chamber Philharmonic in Russia. Most recently, Aspaas traveled to San Luis Obispo, California for a performance of Franz Josef Haydn’s Theresienmesse and Johann Michael Haydn’s Requiem with the Cuesta Master Chorale and Orchestra.

back to top

Jill Peláez Baumgaertner
In-Depth Seminar

A professor of English and Dean of Humanities and Theological Studies at Wheaton College, Baumgaertner received a BA from Emory University, an MA from Drake University, and a PhD in Renaissance and Seventeenth-Century British Literature from Emory University. She serves as poetry editor of The Christian Century and is past president of the Conference on Christianity and Literature. She previously taught at Valparaiso University and joined the Wheaton faculty in 1980. She is the author of Finding Cuba (Chimney Hill Press, 2001), a collection of poems that explores her Cuban ancestry, and four poetry chapbooks: Leaving Eden (White Eagle Coffee Store Press, 1995), Namings (Franciscan University Press, 1999), Finding Cuba (Chimney Hill Press, 2001) and My Father's Bones (Finishing Line Press, 2006). She has also written a textbook/anthology, Poetry (Harcourt Brace, 1990), and Flannery O'Connor: A Proper Scaring (Cornerstone Press, 1998).

Baumgaertner was a Fulbright fellow to Spain, was nominated for a Pushcart Prize and is the winner of the White Eagle Coffee Store Press's poetry chapbook contest, the Goodman Award, an Illinois Arts Council Award, the Illinois Prize of the Rock River Poetry Contest, and the CCL Midwest Poetry Contest.

back to to

Bruce Benson
Worship Planner

Benson came to St. Olaf as the college pastor in 1981 from parish ministry in Minnesota, Montana and South Dakota. He has served on the Trinity Seminary Board of Trustees and the Advisory Council of the theological journal Word and World. Benson has also authored and reviews a segment of Worship Blueprints, Series B and Gathered to Serve, the Adult Bible Study for the 1992 Augsburg VBS Series. Benson is the writer and on-air host of the national radio broadcast program, Sing For Joy, owned and produced by St. Olaf College; Worship Coordinator.

back to top

John Buchanan
Preacher

The Rev. Dr. John Buchanan was born in Pennsylvania and received his theological education at the University of Chicago Divinity School. For 10 years, John was pastor of Broad Street Presbyterian Church in Columbus, Ohio, which under his leadership was cited by U.S. News and World Report as one of five "model congregations" in America. He has been Senior Pastor of Chicago’s historic Fourth Presbyterian Church since 1985. In 1996, he was elected to a one-year term as Moderator of the Presbyterian Church (USA), that denomination’s highest office. John is Editor and Publisher of The Christian Century, one of America’s finest journals of religious news and commentary.

back to top

Jason Byasse
In-Depth Seminar
Special Interest Session
Byassee is director of the Center for Theology, Writing and Media at Duke Divinity School and Special Assistant to Dean L. Gregory Jones. He is also an Executive Director of Leadership Education at Duke Divinity (LEADD), a program dedicated to funding the imaginations of Christian institutional leaders. He is a principal editor, writer and blogger for its web-based magazine, Faith & Leadership.

Byasse is a contributing editor to Christian Century magazine, where he was an assistant editor from 2004-2008. He writes there on such topics as theology, church history, politics, liturgy, popular culture, and spiritual practices. His work has also appeared in Christianity Today, Theology Today, Books & Culture, Sojourners, and First Things. His work has been recognized with several awards from the Associated Church Press and in 2007 with the American Academy of Religion’s first place award for newswriting for outlets with circulations under 100,000.

He has written four books: Reading Augustine: A Guide to Confessions (Cascade, 2006), An Introduction to the Sayings of the Desert Fathers (Cascade, 2007), Praise Seeking Understanding: Reading the Psalms with Augustine (Eerdmans, 2007), and The Gift of the Small Church (forthcoming from Abingdon in 2010). Byasse is presently working on a volume with Westminster’s new Interpretation series on the history of biblical exegesis. 

He holds a B.A. from Davidson College, an M.Div. from Duke Divinity School and a Ph.D. in systematic theology and church history Duke University. He has taught at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, North Park Theological Seminary, Wheaton College, and Northern Seminary, all in the Chicago area, as well as Duke Divinity School. Byassee is an ordained elder in the Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church.

back to top

John Ferguson
Organist
In-Depth Seminar
Special Interest Session

Ferguson is the Elliot and Klara Stockdal Johnson Professor of Organ and Church Music and Minister of Music to the student congregation at St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minn. His responsibilities include directing the church music-organ program, teaching organ and conducting the St. Olaf Cantorei. Ferguson came to St. Olaf in 1983 from Minneapolis where he served Central Lutheran Church as Music Director and Organist, an appointment accepted in 1978 after a 15-year tenure on the music faculty at Kent State University. While at Kent State he also served as Organist-Choirmaster of the United Church of Christ, Kent, Ohio. A native of Cleveland, Ferguson's degrees are from Oberlin College, Kent State and the Eastman School of Music where his doctoral study of organ was with Russell Saunders. While he is respected as a fine teacher and performer, it is his work as a church musician, especially as an improviser and leader of congregational song that has received national acclaim. Each year he prepares and leads many hymn festivals across the country for both local congregations and professional gatherings. In addition, he is in constant demand as a speaker and clinician. He has served as visiting professor at the University of Notre Dame and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music.

Ferguson is the author of Worship Blueprints: Guide to Planning for Worship Music and Walter Holtkamp: American Organ Builder and the co-author of A Musicians Guide to Church Music. He was music editor of the United Church of Christ Hymnal, published in 1975, and his choral and organ music is published by Augsburg, Concordia, G.I.A., Ludwig, and MorningStar publishing houses.

Since joining the St. Olaf faculty, Ferguson's skills as choral conductor and creative arranger have become more widely known. He brings a special combination of experience as choral singer (Oberlin College Choir under Robert Fountain), church musician and participant in the St. Olaf choral tradition and his workshops in conducting and repertoire for church choirs are consistently rated as highlights at conventions of professional organizations. In July, 1996 he lead workshops and a hymn festival in Seoul, Korea. The summer of 1997, he designed and led a hymn festival in the Nidaros Cathedral, Trondheim, Norway as a part of the celebration of the millennium of the birth of St. Olaf. He was invited to design and present a hymn festival held in the Washington National Cathedral as a major event for a recent national convention of the American Choral Directors Association.

back to top

Charles Forsberg
Evening Worship

Forsberg is a professor of music theory and composition at St. Olaf College. He received bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in theory-composition from the University of Minnesota, where he was a student of Paul Fetler and Dominick Argento. His works are published by
G. Schirmer, Belwin-Mills, Augsburg, Schmitt-Hall and McCreary, and Curtis Music Press, and his commissioned works have been performed by the Minnesota Orchestra. Forsberg is a member of the Minnesota Composers Forum and ASCAP.

back to top

David Hagedorn
In Depth Seminar
Special Interest Session

Hagedorn is an artist in residence in the music department, director of the jazz ensembles and teaches percussion at St. Olaf College. He earned an M.M. in percussion performance from the New England Conservatory and a D.M.A. in percussion performance from the Eastman School of Music, where his principal teacher was John Beck. Hagedorn has recorded with the George Russell Living Time Orchestra and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. He regularly performs in a jazz oriented percussion duo and does freelance work in the Twin Cities.

back to top

Jennifer Anderson Koenig
Worship Planner
Special Interest Session

Koenig, associate college pastor at St. Olaf, choreographed and performed for three years with the professional modern dance company Ballet Harren, later serving for three years on the dance and fine arts committee at Luther Seminary. Koenig served in parish ministry in Iowa before coming to St. Olaf in 1997. Describing her years at St. Olaf as full and rich, her work has provided wonderful opportunities for ministry.  She appreciates her colleagues, the students, her family and the many great people in the community who walk this journey of faith and help her to see its holy moments each day.

back to top

Jill Mahr
Handbell Choir Conductor
Handbell Choir Reading Session
Special Interest Session

Mahr is instructor of music in handbells and flute at St. Olaf College. She conducts both the St. Olaf Handbell Choir and the Chapel Ringers and oversees the Manitou Handbell Choir, which is student conducted. At her church in Northfield, Bethel Lutheran, she founded a children's handbell and handchime program which now has four graded choirs. Mahr is past secretary of the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers Area VII. She is principal flute of the Mankato Symphony and teaches
flute privately in her home.

back to top

Jeffrey O'Donnell
Special Interest Session

O'Donnell is the director of broadcast media at St. Olaf College and executive producer of the college’s sacred music radio program Sing For Joy. He is a 2002 graduate of St. Olaf College, where he received a B.M. cum laude in church music. O’Donnell oversees the college’s initiatives in concert recording, web streaming and program outreach. He enjoys performing with Twin Cities choral ensembles and was on the steering committee for the 2008 AGO National Convention in the Minneapolis and St. Paul area. singforjoy.org

back to top

Heather Potter
Wednesday Plenary
Special Interest Session

Potter, Associate Conductor of the Charlotte Children’s Choir in Charlotte, N.C., conducts the Lyric Choir. She also serves as the Director of Youth and Children’s Music at First Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church in Gastonia, North Carolina. As an active clinician, Dr. Potter frequently conducts treble ensembles for music conferences and festival choirs and presents children’s choir training workshops. She serves on the Choristers Guild National Board and on the advisory board for the Choristers Guild Institute. She is also the Repertoire and Standards Chair for Children’s Choirs for North Carolina American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). 

Potter holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education from Furman University, a Master of Music degree in Choral Music Education from Arizona State University and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Choral Conducting from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. In addition, she has completed Level III in the Choral Music Experience certification course and holds Choristers Guild Children’s Choir Leadership certification. Potter is a member of ACDA, Choristers Guild, and Music Educators National Conference. She lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with her husband, Kenney, director of the Choir Connection Teen Choir.

back to top

Kenney Potter
Choir Connection Teen Choir Conductor
Special Interest Session

Potter, a native of Kings Mountain, NC is the Director of Choral Activities at Wingate University and Artistic Director of the Union Symphony Orchestra. He holds degrees in Choral Music Education from Florida State University and Portland State University in Oregon and a Doctorate in Musical Arts in Choral Conducting from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. 
An active conductor, Potter's repertoire with chorus and orchestra includes Handel's Messiah, Mozart's Coronation Mass and Requiem, Vivaldi's Gloria, and John Rutter's Requiem. In 1999, he appeared with the Charlotte Symphony conducting Estampie Natalis by Vaclav Nelhybel during the annual "The Magic of Christmas."

Currently, he is an active clinician and adjudicator throughout North Carolina. Hinshaw Music and Chorister's Guild publish his choral compositions. He serves as a Repertoire and Standards Chair for Male Choirs in the Southern Division of the American Choral Directors Association. As an Associate Conductor with the Charlotte Children's Choir, he conducts the male ensemble, Cantare. Potter is also the choir director at First Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church in Gastonia.

back to top

Cathy Rodland
Organist
In-depth Seminar
Special Interest Session

Rodland, artist in residence in organ and music theory at St. Olaf College, graduated cum laude with departmental distinction in organ performance from St. Olaf College in 1987, then received the M.M. and D.M.A. from Eastman School of Music studying with Russell Saunders. As a prizewinner in several national organ competitions, including both the 1992 and 1998 American Guild of Organists Young Artists Competitions. Rodland has concertized extensively throughout the United States and Canada and maintains an active career as a recitalist. She also performs regularly at St. Olaf, most recently dedicating the new Holtkamp pipe organ in Boe Memorial Chapel.

back to top

Mark Stover
Monday Evening Worship

Mark Stover came to Colonial Church in Edina, Minnesota, from Walnut Creek, California, to bring a fresh spirit to their contemporary worship — church leaders say he has done that and so much more. A graduate student at Luther Seminary, Stover is completing a Master's of Sacred Music in Choral Conducting. He teaches voice, coaches ensembles, and loves good company and fine wine.

back to top

Todd Wilson
Organist
In-Depth Seminar
Special Interest Session

Regarded across America and a round the world as one of today’s finest concert organists, Todd Wilson serves as head of the Organ Department at The Cleveland Institute of Music.  In addition, he also serves as Organ Curator of the E.M. Skinner pipe organ at Severance Hall in Cleveland, Ohio (home of The Cleveland Orchestra).   Mr. Wilson received his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati, where he studied organ with Wayne Fisher.  Further coaching in organ repertoire was with Russell Saunders at The Eastman School of Music.  He has won numerous competitions, including the Grand Prix de Chartres (France) and the Ft. Wayne Competition.  An active member of the American Guild of Organists, Mr. Wilson holds the Fellow and Choirmaster certificates.  He was a featured performer for the Centennial National Convention of the Guild in New York City in July 1996 and at the 2008 National Convention of the Guild in Minneapolis-St. Paul.

Todd Wilson has been heard in concert in many major cities throughout the United States, Europe, and Japan, including concerts at Symphony Hall (Birmingham, UK), Los Angeles’ Walt Disney Concert Hall, Philadelphia’s Verizon Hall, Chicago's Orchestra Hall, Cleveland’s Severance Hall, Dallas’ Meyerson Symphony Center, and Uihlein Hall in Milwaukee.  In June of 2003 he dedicated the organ in the new 21,000-seat Mormon Conference Center in Salt Lake City, in October 2004 he performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra on the first orchestra subscription series concert featuring the new organ at Disney Hall in Los Angeles, and in January 2005 he performed his Japan debut recital in Tokyo.  He has appeared as a solo recitalist for Austrian Radio in Vienna as well as in concert with the Slovakian Radio Symphony.  Past orchestral appearances include performances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, members of the Atlanta Symphony, the Naples (FL) Philharmonic, the Calgary Philharmonic, City of London Sinfonia, the Canton Symphony, the New Mexico Symphony, the Ft. Worth Symphony, and the Orchestra at Temple Square in Salt Lake City.

A sought-after adjudicator, Todd Wilson has been a jury member for numerous national and international playing competitions.  An active interest in improvisation has led to his popular improvised accompaniments to classic silent films. 

back to top