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St. Olaf Orchestra ends fall tour with home concert Nov. 5

By Elizabeth Child
November 1, 2004

The 92-member St. Olaf Orchestra will end its nine-city fall tour from Iowa to Arizona with a home concert on Friday, Nov. 5, at 8 p.m. in St. Olaf College's Skoglund Center Auditorium. Admission is free.

The program will feature Pictures at an Exhibition by Mussorgsky/Ravel, Carnival Overture by Dvorak; Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy by Tchaikovsky; and Sola Gratia by St. Olaf Orchestra Conductor Steven Amundson.

In addition, Micah Wilkinson, a junior trumpet performance major, will solo in Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra by Haydn. Timothy Barker, a junior chemistry major, and Michael McGuan, a senior chemistry major, will be featured performers in Navarra for Two Violins by Sarasate.

The nationally renown St. Olaf Orchestra is perhaps best known for its annual performances of the St. Olaf Christmas Festival which can be seen on PBS during the holiday season and heard on public radio stations nationwide. In addition to performing throughout the United States, the St. Olaf Orchestra has performed in great concert halls in Scandinavia and in Central and Eastern Europe. In June 2005, it will perform throughout Norway for that country's centennial celebration and also to mark 100 years of international touring by the St. Olaf music ensembles.

"The musicians at St. Olaf have a tradition of unusually strong ensemble playing," says Steven Amundson, conductor of the St. Olaf Orchestra. "They exhibit a youthful enthusiasm and passion for music that is rare in a professional-quality orchestra such as ours. The audience is 'brought on stage' by their personal involvement."

Steven Amundson has directed the St. Olaf Orchestra since 1981. He also has gained renown as a composer of works that have been featured in the St. Olaf Christmas Festival and by professional, university and community orchestras including the Akron, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Columbus, Detroit, Houston, Long Beach, Louisiana, New Mexico, Omaha, Orlando and Virginia symphonies. Amundson received a bachelor of arts degree from Luther College and a Master of Music degree in orchestral conducting from Northwestern University. He has also studied under notable conductors such as Erick Leinsdorf, Maurice Abravenel, Milan Norvat and Bernard Rubenstein.

In 1995, Luther College honored Amundson with the Carlo A. Sperati Award for Meritorious Achievement in Music. In 1992, he was named Orchestra Educator of the Year by the Minnesota Music Educators Association. In the 1980 International Conducting Competition sponsored by the Mozarteum and National Austrian Radio, Amundson placed first, earning the Hans Haring prize.

ST. OLAF ORCHESTRA

2004 Fall Tour Itinerary

Oct. 23 Mason City, Iowa NIACC Auditorium, 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 24 Lincoln, Nebraska First Plymouth Congregational Church, 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 25 Grand Island, Nebraska Walnut Middle School Auditorium, 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 26 Denver, Colorado (Cherry Hills Village) Bethany Lutheran Church, 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 27 Colorado Springs, Colorado Pikes Peak Center, 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 28 Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque Academy, Simms Auditorium, 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 29 Cottonwood, Arizona Mingus Union High School Auditorium, 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 30 Rio Verde, Arizona Rio Verde Community Church, 2:30 p.m.

Oct. 31 Phoenix, Arizona (Chandler) Chandler Center for the Performing Arts, 2:30 p.m.

Nov. 5 St. Olaf College home concert Skoglund Center Auditorium, 8 p.m.

Contact Elizabeth Child at 507-646-3032 or ec@elizabethchild.com.