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St. Olaf Band to perform Spring Concert Saturday

By John Andert '10
April 15, 2008

The St. Olaf Band will perform its annual Spring Concert on Saturday, April 19, under the baton of guest conductor Russell Pesola '61. The concert, in Boe Memorial Chapel at 7:30 p.m., is free and open to the public. It also will be streamed live and archived online.

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The program will include two operatic transcriptions: an operatic ballet by Gustav Holst from The Perfect Fool and Richard Wagner's Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral from Lohengrin -- the work that established Wagner as a "revolutionary" composer.

Other pieces on the program include John Philip Sousa's Pathfinder of Panama, Aaron Copland's Down a Country Lane and Paul Hindemith's march from Symphonic Metamorphosis of themes by Carl Maria von Weber. In addition, St. Olaf faculty member Martin Hodel will be featured in Jukka Linkola's Trumpet Concerto No. 2.

Pesola, emeritus professor of music at Concordia, led the Concordia College Band to national prominence during his 29 years at the college. Pesola has an extensive background as guest clinician and conductor working with high school students and music educators at summer music camps and clinics. Prior to Concordia he taught for 12 years in the public school systems of Wabasso and Northfield, Minnesota.

After graduating from St. Olaf he went on to earn his MFA and DMA degrees in trumpet performance from the University of Minnesota. He continues his active performance on trumpet with the Fargo-Moorhead Symphony, Prairie Wind Brass and the Ameriikan Poijat Finnish Brass Septet that has toured extensively throughout Finland and the United States. In addition to performance, he continues to arrange and perform numerous pieces for band and various ensembles.

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