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TPT to add special simulcast broadcast to St. Olaf holiday programming

By David Gonnerman '90
December 23, 2007

Twin Cities Public Television (TPT) recently announced that it will add a one-time TV broadcast of the unique St. Olaf Christmas Festival simulcast event that was created and broadcast to 197 movie theatres around the country Dec. 2. The two-hour simulcast of Christmas at St. Olaf: Where Peace and Hope and Love Abide will air on TPT's channel 2 (and on TPT high-definition channels) Sunday, Dec. 23, beginning at noon.

The new program is in addition to the regularly scheduled broadcasts of the newly produced Christmas at St. Olaf: Where Peace and Hope and Love Abide special that will air Dec. 24 at 8 p.m. and Dec. 25 at 10 a.m. A St. Olaf Christmas in Norway, produced in 2005, will air Dec. 24 at 10 p.m. and Dec. 25 at 8 a.m. (all times CST).

TPT estimates that the Dec. 19 premiere of the program was watched by 2.5 million people nationwide.

ChristmasFest07A
A scene from this year's St. Olaf Christmas Festival, "Where Peace and Love and Hope Abide." PBS will present a one-hour broadcast of the event nationally Dec. 19, 24 and 25.
Visit TPT to find out when PBS will broadcast the one-hour Where Peace and Hope and Love Abide program in your area as part of the network's nationwide broadcasts. (Visit the broadcast information page to download and send an e-card reminder to friends and family and to order CDs and DVDs.)

Overwhelming response
The simulcast event, seen by nearly 8,500 people, elicited hundreds of e-mail messages to St. Olaf administrators. "We're just overwhelmed by all the messages," says Bob "BJ" Johnson, manager of St. Olaf Music Organizations. "We're ecstatic that this year's event could reach so many more people than the 12,000 visitors who get to experience the St. Olaf Christmas Festival on campus."

"TPT was delighted with this year's simulcast production," adds TPT's Catherine Allan, producer of the one-hour TV special. "We knew there would be many viewers in Minnesota who had not been able to attend one of the sold-out theatres, so we thought they would appreciate being able to see the entire Festival on TV."

'What a treat!'
"Sunday was a nasty weather day in Pennsylvania, with snow and sleet and freezing rain, but how glad I am that we decided to brave the slippery roads," wrote Elaine Shaffer the day after she viewed the simulcast in a Philadelphia neighborhood Dec. 2. "The concert was pure heaven! It brought tears to my eyes to see all those young musicians' radiant faces, filled with the joy of singing and playing beautiful music together."

"The simulcast was amazing," echoed St. Olaf parent Robin Woolums, who viewed this year's simulcast of the St. Olaf Christmas Festival in a Denver theatre. "It was a wonderful way to begin Advent. What a treat!"

"Thank you for making Christmas Festival a possibility this year," wrote Florida resident Kathryn Tobiassen Dinsmore '84, who adds that her son is considering attending St. Olaf but -- perhaps more importantly -- he's realized that "young men can be cool and make beautiful music."

The St. Olaf simulcast was the first time that a college or university had ever attempted such an undertaking, preceded only by the Metropolitan Opera and Drum Corps International.

Contact David Gonnerman '90 at 507-786-3315 or gonnermd@stolaf.edu.