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'Performance Today' to broadcast St. Olaf Choir performance on National Public Radio

By Amy Gage
March 22, 2002

NORTHFIELD, MINN. - The 75-voice St. Olaf Choir, the premier college choral ensemble in the United States, will be heard nationwide on Wednesday, March 27, when National Public Radio's "Performance Today" broadcasts a performance taped last February at NPR studios in Washington, D.C.

The broadcast will be heard in the Twin Cities on 89.3 WCAL at 8 p.m. WCAL is the independent public radio service of St. Olaf College.

The hourlong performance was taped during the choir's 10-state winter tour, which included stops at the new Kimmel Center in Philadelphia and an historic performance with the renowned Westminster Choir of Rider University in Princeton, New Jersey.

Selections will include "Past Life Melodies" by Sarah Hopkins, influenced by her eight years working among Australian Aboriginal peoples; the haunting "Danny Boy," arranged by Westminster conductor Joseph Flummerfelt; and the beloved "Beautiful Savior," arranged by F. Melius Christiansen, who founded the St. Olaf Choir in 1911 as an outgrowth of St. John's Lutheran Church Choir in Northfield.

St. Olaf graduate Anton Armstrong has conducted the choir since 1990, leading the group on concert tours of Denmark, Norway, New Zealand and Australia. Armstrong is slated to lead choral festivals this spring in New York City and Salt Lake City, Utah.

St. Olaf College, a national leader among liberal arts institutions, 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). More than two-thirds of its students participate in international studies. For more information, see www.stolaf.edu.

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