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A St. Olaf Christmas in Norway premiered Dec. 21

By Carole Leigh Engblom
December 23, 2005

AntonNorway
Anton Armtrong spoke about A St. Olaf Christmas in Norway during a recent preview party at the TPT offices in St. Paul.
After nearly three years of planning, a new PBS Christmas special, A St. Olaf Christmas in Norway, premiered on Twin Cities Public Television Dec. 21. Viewers can enjoy encore broadcasts on Dec. 24 at 8 p.m. and Dec. 25 at 8:30 a.m. The program is a co-production of St. Olaf College and NRK, the public broadcasting network of Norway, in association with Twin Cities Public Television, based in St. Paul, Minnesota and one of the most-watched PBS affiliates in the nation.

A St. Olaf Christmas in Norway showcases two countries and two choirs, presenting traditional Christmas hymns sung in both Norwegian and English. Featured performers include the renowned a cappella voices of the St. Olaf Choir from St. Olaf College in Northfield, conducted by Dr. Anton Armstrong; the Nidaros Cathedral Girls Choir from Trondheim, conducted by Vivianne Sydnes; and noted Norwegian mezzo soprano Randi Stene.

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Anton Armstrong conducts the St. Olaf Choir and Nidaros Cathedral Girls Choir in a scene from A St. Olaf Christmas in Norway.
"The performances are absolutely exquisite," says Twin Cities Public Television's Catherine Allan, executive producer of A St. Olaf Christmas in Norway.

Singing in the majestic, 900-year-old Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim was a highlight for the internationally known St. Olaf Choir, which has performed in prestigious music venues around the world since its founding in 1912 by F. Melius Christiansen, a Norwegian immigrant. Christiansen established the choir's distinctive style of a cappella singing, a tradition carried on today by St. Olaf Choir Conductor Anton Armstrong. "Making music in that cathedral was awe-inspiring and the television program captures that," says Armstrong. "Even places like the National Cathedral or St. Patrick's in New York simply don't have the age of Nidaros. They haven't quite matured to what this building offers."

As artistic director of the program, Armstrong wanted to create something very special for A St. Olaf Christmas in Norway. "The theme, when I was envisioning it, was to bring a program of light, knowing how much of the year Scandinavia is thrust into darkness," he explains. "You see aspects of light throughout the program. That image of light comes through the text."

The one-hour program, filmed during the St. Olaf Choir's tour of Norway in 2005 (along with the St. Olaf Band and St. Olaf Orchestra), is the seventh in a popular series of PBS Christmas programs co-produced by Twin Cities Public Television and St. Olaf College. The concert commemorates the centennial of Norway's independence and the cultural roots of St. Olaf College, founded in 1874 by Norwegian Lutheran immigrants.

A St. Olaf Christmas in Norway will air nationwide on PBS stations Dec. 21. National broadcast information can be found on the St. Olaf Christmas in Norway website. The show will also be broadcast in Norway and distributed internationally by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. The program was produced in HD (high definition) with 5.1 surround sound and may also be seen in high definition in markets where HD is available.

A St. Olaf Christmas in Norway DVDs and CDs are available at the St. Olaf Bookstore.

Contact Carole Engblom at 507-646-3271 or leigh@stolaf.edu.