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St. Olaf Band to premiere works by Libby Larsen, Mary Ellen Childs

By Elizabeth Child
February 4, 2003

The St. Olaf Band, one of the nation's leading collegiate concert bands, will premiere Libby Larsen's "Strut" and Mary Ellen Childs' "Zephyrus," in a band and pipe organ concert to be held at St. Olaf College's Boe Memorial Chapel in Northfield, Minn., Sunday, Feb. 9 at 7:30 p.m. The concert is free and open to the public.

(The concert also will be broadcast on Classical 89.3 on Saturday, Feb. 15, at 3 p.m.)

The new pieces were commissioned for the band's 100th-anniversary tour, ranging from Minnesota to New York City's Lincoln Center. The "home" concert is the final performance in the band's six-state tour.

In addition to the world premieres, the concert also features organ pieces written by Camille Saint-Saëns, Richard Strauss and Timothy Mahr, conductor of the St. Olaf Band -- and performed by nationally recognized organist and St. Olaf Professor of Organ and Church Music John Ferguson.

The second half of the concert opens with "American Fanfare," composed by St. Olaf graduate Sharon Moe Miranda, a noted New York composer and French horn player. Miranda composed the work in 1971 for the brass section and tympanist of the American Symphony Orchestra at the request of its conductor, Leopold Stokowski.

Compositions by Larsen and Childs Add Contemporary Flair "Larsen's new work, 'Strut,' is marked by musical elements extracted from the popular music idiom," Mahr says. "These are developed with a very engaging rhythmic vitality."

Larsen's music has been praised for its dynamic, deeply inspired and vigorous contemporary American spirit. She has received numerous awards and accolades, including a 1994 Grammy for producing the CD The Art of Arlene Augér, an acclaimed recording featuring Larsen's Sonnets from the Portuguese. USA Today selected her opera Frankenstein, the Modern Prometheus as one of the eight best classical music events of 1990. The first woman to serve as a resident composer with any major orchestra, Larsen has held residencies with the California Institute of the Arts, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Charlotte Symphony and the Colorado Symphony.

Childs' new composition is titled "Zephyrus," after the Greek god of the west wind. She notes that in The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer says Zephyrus breathes life into all things in the spring. Childs has been acclaimed for creating bold, kinetic compositions often integrating music, dance and theater. She has composed numerous "visual percussion" pieces for her company, CRASH, that embody the concept of music in motion.

In 2001, Childs received the "New Residencies" award from Meet the Composer Inc., a three-year residency that supports partnerships among composers, professional arts institutions and community-based organizations.

Last spring, she collaborated with the St. Olaf Art, Dance, Music, Theater and Interdisciplinary Fine Arts departments while in residence as an instructor specializing in music theory and composition.

Both Childs and Larson live and work in Minnesota.

About the St. Olaf Band The St. Olaf Band is the oldest musical organization at St. Olaf College and is internationally recognized for the high caliber of its musical ensembles. The group's first tour, in 1903-04, took it to Iowa. In 1906, the band traveled to Norway for a four-week, 30-concert tour that earned it the distinction of being the first American collegiate band to undertake a European concert tour.

The band has been lead by Conductor Timothy Mahr since 1994. He is credited with composing 50 works, including 25 commissions. In 1991, he received the American Bandmasters Association/Ostwald Award for his piece "The Soaring Hawk." He is also a recipient of the National Band Association's Citation of Excellence. He graduated summa cum laude from St. Olaf College in 1977 and 1978 with bachelor of music and bachelor of arts degrees. He later attended the University of Iowa, earning both a master of arts degree in trombone performance and a doctor of musical arts degree in instrumental conducting.

"St. Olaf College has understood the inherent value and supported fully the touring efforts of its music organizations for 100 years," Mahr says. "These opportunities allow our students to explore the depths of the music night after night, uncovering new artistic meaning with each performance, while sharing our discoveries with eager and appreciative audiences."

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.