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Celebration Weekend to feature public concerts by three major music ensembles

By David Gonnerman '90
May 19, 2003

NORTHFIELD, Minn. ? Three St. Olaf College music organizations will perform their final concerts of the academic year this weekend: the St. Olaf Band at 8 p.m. on Friday, the St. Olaf Orchestra at 3:30 p.m. Saturday and the St. Olaf Choir at 8 p.m. Saturday. All concerts are at Skoglund Center Auditorium. They are free and open to the public.

Seniors traditionally help program these concerts, which are their last with the St. Olaf music ensembles.

The band, conducted by Timothy Mahr, will open with ?Ja Vi Elsker,? the Norwegian National Anthem, and ?The Star Spangled Banner.? Their program also includes ?Windsong? by Minnesota composer John Zdechlik and John Phillip Sousa?s ?A Century of Progress.?

Tchaikovsky?s ?None But the Lonely Heart? will showcase alumnus David Elvig (class of 1978) on flugelhorn, a piece he played on the band?s tour his senior year. Elvig is founder and CEO of LOGICARE (Eau Claire, Wis), a company which produces healthcare software used by over 500 hospitals, including Northfield Hospital.

?The orchestra seniors have selected a couple of winners,? said orchestra conductor Steven Amundson. ?The orchestra will play an upbeat, popular program. Everyone will enjoy it.? These selections include ?Bacchanale? from Camille Saint-Saën?s Samson and Delila, the final two movements from Beethoven?s Symphony No. 5 and selections from The Pines of Rome by Ottorino Respighi.

An additional highlight will be the return of St. Olaf alumna (class of 1987) and Northfield native Malin Fritz. ?We?re thrilled to be featuring one of our illustrious alums,? said Amundson. Fritz, an accomplished opera singer who has performed internationally, will sing two arias from George Bizet?s Carmen, accompanied by the orchestra. Fritz?s father, Henry Fritz, was a history professor at St. Olaf from 1958 to 1996. He and his wife, Dolores Fritz, live in Red Wing, Minn.

The choir, led by Anton Armstrong, will perform German, Spanish, Latin and Norwegian songs, plus traditional spirituals. One spiritual, ?This Little Light of Mine, arranged by Moses Hogan (1957-2003), will be sung in Hogan?s memory.

Two seniors singing in this final concert, Laura White and Peter Kuhlman, are from Northfield. ?This was the concert that I never missed while growing up,? said White. ?It hooked me on the St. Olaf Choir and convinced me it was OK to attend college in my hometown so that I could sing in it. This concert will be my opportunity to savor the last moments of that dream before moving on.?

The concet will conclude with St. Olaf Choir alumni joining the choir on stage. They will sing three pieces together, including ?There is a Balm in Gilead,? arranged by William Dawson, and ?Beautiful Savior,? arranged by F. Melius Christiansen.

St. Olaf College is a liberal arts institution that fosters the development of mind, body and spirit. It is a residential college in Northfield, Minn., and affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The college provides personalized instruction and diverse learning environments, with nearly two-thirds of its students participating in international studies.

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