About the St. Olaf Choir

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The St. Olaf Choir, with 75 mixed voices, is the pioneer a cappella choir in the United States. For nearly a century, the choir has set a standard of choral excellence and remained at the forefront of choral artistry. Conducted since 1990 by Anton Armstrong, the St. Olaf Choir continues to develop the tradition that originated with its founder, F. Melius Christiansen.
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Since its founding in 1912, the St. Olaf Choir has set a standard in the choral art, serving as a model for choirs of all levels. The ensemble’s annual tour brings its artistry and message to thousands of people across the nation and around the world. The St. Olaf Choir has taken 13 international tours and performed for capacity audiences in the major concert halls of Norway, France, South Korea, New Zealand, Australia, New York City, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas, and the Twin Cities.
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In addition to being an artistic force, the St. Olaf Choir has a full calendar of events and a growing library of recordings. The choir’s mission is to provide music of the highest quality that lifts people's hearts and spirits, incorporating a diversity of voices and cultural traditions into the chorus of the Christian faith. Many people experience this message through the annual St. Olaf Christmas Festival. But perhaps nowhere is the essence more clearly proclaimed than in the work that has become the choir's signature piece, Beautiful Savior.

See the St. Olaf Choir in concert.

St. Olaf Choir Fact Sheet

  • The St. Olaf Choir is internationally renowned for a unique combination of superior choral singing and the presentation of challenging choral programming with a vast repertoire that encompasses the entire history of Western music, from Renaissance polyphony to new music. The St. Olaf Choir transcended America’s limited early 20th century choral tradition with the introduction of a cappella singing of the highest level, creating a new model for the widespread choral growth that followed.
  • The St. Olaf Choir is the premier choral ensemble of St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn. St. Olaf College is a four-year, co-educational liberal arts college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) with students from across the United States and 30 other countries. St. Olaf College is recognized worldwide for the exceptional breadth and depth of its music program.
  • St. Olaf Choir members are full-time undergraduate students. Their commitment to the choir involves rehearsing five days a week in addition to completing a full schedule of academic and musical studies.
  • The St. Olaf Choir’s ever-expanding discography now features 25 discs. Recordings released in recent years include two volumes of Great Hymns of Faith, Charles Ives: The Celestial Country, My Soul’s Been Anchored in the Lord, The Spirituals of William L. Dawson, and Advance Australia Fair. All recordings are available through St. Olaf Records at www.stolafrecords.com.
  • Extraordinary sales of the first volume of Great Hymns of Faith surpassed 270,000. St. Olaf College donated more than 4,000 copies of the two Great Hymns volumes to the U.S. military for worship services among troops in Iraq and around the globe.
  • The 2005 the St. Olaf Choir performed at the White House for President George W. Bush, First Lady Laura Bush and guests to commemorate The National Day of Prayer.
  • Armstrong and the St. Olaf Choir performed in the final concerts of the 2005 National Conference of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) in Los Angeles, which included singing at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, sharing the stage with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. The next day the ensemble flew across the country and sang in an acclaimed performance at New York City’s Carnegie Hall, the 10th time in its history that the St. Olaf Choir has appeared at the hall.
  • The St. Olaf Choir has also performed at prestigious festivals around the world, including the Seoul Olympic Arts Festival, the Strasbourg and Bergen Music Festivals, and the closing concert of the Sixth World Symposium on Choral Music in Minneapolis. The ensemble has performed at the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) National Conference and, together with the St. Olaf Band and St. Olaf Orchestra, presented the highly lauded opening gala concert of the 59th Music Educators National Conference (MENC).
  • Celebrating both the Centennial of Norway’s 100 years of independence from Sweden as well as 100 years of friendship and historical legacy between St. Olaf College and Norway, in 2005 the St. Olaf Choir joined the St. Olaf Orchestra and the St. Olaf Band on an unprecedented three-week tour of Norway. The ensembles performed jointly in Oslo, Bergen, Molde and Trondheim, with each presenting additional concerts throughout the country. In December of that year a television special titled “A St. Olaf Christmas in Norway” was broadcast nationally on PBS and was released on DVD.
  • The St. Olaf Choir is perhaps best known for its annual performances in the St. Olaf Christmas Festival, one of the oldest Christmas musical celebrations in the United States. Aired on national and international radio and television for more than 20 years, the St. Olaf Christmas Festival has been featured in hundreds of publications, including the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and TV Guide. The festival features more than 500 student musicians comprising five choirs as well as the St. Olaf Orchestra.
  • The St. Olaf Choir continues to attract capacity audiences at top venues around the country including Philadelphia’s Verizon Hall, the Kennedy Center, Cleveland’s Severance Hall and the Orchestra Halls of both Chicago and Minneapolis.
  • F. Melius Christiansen was the first of just four conductors that have led the St. Olaf Choir. He was succeeded by his son, Olaf Christiansen, in 1943; Kenneth Jennings in 1968; and current conductor Anton Armstrong in 1990.
  • Dr. Joseph Shaw’s 1998 book, The St. Olaf Choir: A Narrative, chronicles the illustrious history of one of America’s most preeminent choral institutions.
  • The St. Olaf Choir was honored with the 1999 Wittenberg Award for outstanding contributions to Lutheran church music.

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