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St. Olaf Choir to join Minnesota Orchestra for Faure's Requiem in Twin Cities

By Elizabeth Child
April 10, 2003

The St. Olaf Choir will join the Minnesota Orchestra April 16 to 18 for performances of Gabriel Fauré's hauntingly beautiful Requiem. The concerts will feature soprano Karina Gauvin and baritone Brett Polegato making their Minnesota Orchestra debuts. Conductor Bernard Labadie leads the Minnesota Orchestra.

The program also includes two works by Mozart, his celebrated Symphony No. 40 in G Minor, and the short, 69-measure work Masonic Funeral Music.

"This concert continues a tradition of collaboration between the Minnesota Orchestra and the St. Olaf Choir that dates back to the 1920s," says Anton Armstrong, the St. Olaf Choir's music director. "Together, the two produce a sound that is rich, complex and beautiful."

Concerts take place at both Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis and the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in St. Paul. The Wednesday, April 16, concert begins at 7:30 p.m. at Orchestra Hall, and the Thursday, April 17, concert begins at 7:30 p.m. at Ordway Center. The remaining two concerts, on Friday, April 18, begin at 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. at Orchestra Hall.

Free "Music Up Close" pre-concert talks are offered to all ticket holders prior to Orchestra Hall performances. Tickets prices range from $20 to $74 and are available through the Orchestra Hall Box Office, by calling 612-371-5656, or by visiting www.minnesotaorchestra.org.

In addition, Northfield-area residents may ride a bus to the evening concert April 18 for $10 per person. Call 507-646-3999.

Concert Notes
Many of the great composers have written requiem masses for the dead, but few have achieved such universal affection as the requiem by 19th-century French composer Gabriel Fauré. First performed in 1887, with final revisions completed around 1900, Fauré's Requiem is a graceful, serene work that shares a vision of salvation in death.

"That's how I see death: a joyful deliverance, an aspiration toward a happiness beyond the grave, rather than a painful existence," Fauré wrote.

Complementing Fauré's Requiem on the program is Mozart's Masonic Funeral Music. Written in 1785, the short (69-measure) instrumental piece was composed for the funeral service of two fellow Masonic Lodge members. The program also includes Mozart's Symphony No. 40 in G Minor.

About the Artists
The 75-member St. Olaf Choir is acclaimed as one of America's premier choirs. Founded in 1912 by F. Melius Christiansen, the St. Olaf Choir initiated the a cappella choral tradition in the United States and has been a major influence on American choirs ever since.

Today, the St. Olaf Choir is perhaps best known as the centerpiece of the annual St. Olaf Christmas Festival, broadcast nationally by PBS and on many radio stations, including Classical 89.3, the public radio service of St. Olaf College.

With a beauty of sound that is both rich and precisely controlled, the St. Olaf Choir has touched audiences worldwide, the result of 13 tours to Scandinavia, Western and Central Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

The St. Olaf Choir has also performed across the United States, including 19 performances in New York's Carnegie Hall. In August 2002, the St. Olaf Choir appeared on the world stage at the Sixth World Symposium on Choral Music in the Twin Cities.

Anton Armstrong took up the baton as music director of the St. Olaf Choir in 1990. A 1978 graduate of St. Olaf College, Armstrong sang in the St. Olaf Choir, and as a child he sang in the American Boys Choir in Princeton, N.J.

Armstrong earned a master of music degree in choral music from the University of Illinois and a doctor of musical arts degree in choral conducting from Michigan State University. His doctoral thesis documented the St. Olaf Choir's influence on the American choral tradition. Armstrong returned to St.Olaf after 10 years on the faculty at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Since 1976, the St. Olaf Choir has recorded 17 discs, including the international release of Celestial Country on the Linn Records label in 2003, featuring one of Charles Ives' major choral works. Recordings are available through www.stolafrecords.com.

Canadian conductor Bernard Labadie has devoted his career to choral, orchestral and opera conducting and was recently appointed artistic director of L'Opéra de Montréal for the 2003-04 season. He currently serves as artistic and music director of Les Violins du Roy, an ensemble he founded in 1984.

Since his 1999 Messiah performances with the Minnesota Orchestra, Labadie has been sought after by many American orchestras, with appearances in Philadelphia, Detroit, St. Louis, San Francisco and Los Angeles slated for future seasons. He currently records exclusively for Dorian Records. Additional recordings can be found on the Hyperion, Adès and Syrinx labels.

Soprano Karina Gauvin has appeared with many major orchestras, including the Montreal Symphony, New York Collegium, Scottish Ensemble, Les Violons du Roy and the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra. Her discography includes three Juno Award nominations, and her recording Fête Galante received a 2000 Opus Award for best recording and was selected as Chamber Music America's Recording of the Year.

Canadian baritone Brett Polegato earned the distinction of reaching the finals of the 1995 Cardiff Singer of the World Competition. Since then, he has appeared on such concert, recital and opera stages as Lincoln Center, Royal Albert Hall, Concertgebouw, La Scala, Carnegie Hall and Chicago Lyric Opera. His recordings can be found on the Archive and CBC Records labels.

St. Olaf College, a national leader among liberal arts institutions, fosters the development of mind, body and spirit. It is a residential college in Northfield, Minn., and affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The college provides personalized instruction and diverse learning environments, with nearly two-thirds of its students participating in international studies.

Contact David Gonnerman at 507-786-3315 or gonnermd@stolaf.edu.