At 7:30, on the evening of Feb. 18, heavenly sounds echoed throughout the rafters of Boe Memorial Chapel. After a successful 3-week long tour to 19 cities and towns throughout the Midwest and down south into Texas, the St. Olaf Choir was warmly welcomed by a crowd of enthusiastic supporters, including St. Olaf's new president, Christopher Thomforde and his wife Kristine.

The tour consisted of concerts almost every night with traveling throughout the day. The 2001 Midwest tour itinerary consisted of visits to: St. Cloud and Willmar Minn; Sioux City Iowa; Columbia Mo; Tulsa, Okla; Hot Springs Village Ark; Houston, Waco, Austin, San Antonio, Corpus Christi, and Dallas, Texas; Oklahoma City Okla; Wichita and Prairie Village Kan; Ames Iowa; Lincoln Neb; Omaha Neb; and finally, Northfield, Minn.

The annual, ever-popular home choir concert attracted a full house, leaving those who showed up after 7 p.m. either out in the cold, standing or sitting on the floor. Ruth Hansen commented, "I came at 6:15 because I know how full it gets and I wanted to get a good seat."

Obviously thrilled to be back on the hill, the St. Olaf choir members proudly marched in with heads held high and grins from ear to ear. They began with three songs from the 16th and 17th century, including Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck's "Cantate Domino," Thomas Weelkes' "When David Heard," and Johann Sebastian Bach's "Jauchzet dem Herrn alle Welt."

In response to the bouncing energy of the choir throughout these songs, audience member, Linda Olson commented, "The choir is so much fun to watch. They really look happy to be singing."

The later part of the first half was sung from the balcony with John Ferguson accompanying on the organ.

The second half was the most enjoyable part of the evening. With songs such as Edwin Fissinger's "By the Water's of Babylon" and John Ferguson's arrangement of "Lord of the Dance," the choir demonstrated the flexibility of their voices with the integration of spoken words incorporated into the songs.

Perhaps the most impressive song of the evening was the traditional spiritual "My Soul's Been Anchored in the Lord," arranged by Moses Hogan, which brought the crowd immediately to their feet.

Overall, the concert was an astonishing display of Olaf's finest musical talent. If the choir sang as beautifully while on tour as they did Sunday evening, their music could only have motivated, inspired and spiritually enhanced the lives of those who attended their performances.

As student Sarah Beth Paulson mentioned after the concert, "Every student at St.Olaf should have taken the opportunity to hear such beautiful music coming from our peers. It was a wonderful concert and a great way to spend a Sunday evening."