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St. Olaf College choirs, orchestra share message of hope, healing

cle
November 26, 2001

The 90th annual St. Olaf Christmas Festival, Love Divine, Illumine our Darkness, will be broadcast on PBS stations nationwide this holiday season. The national broadcast is made possible by a generous gift from Lutheran Brotherhood, a faith-based and member-owned organization committed to serving Lutherans and the broader community for more than 80 years. This marks the sixth time Twin Cities Public Television (TPT) has collaborated with St. Olaf College to bring the world-renowned Christmas Festival to national audiences.

The Twin Cities Public Television production of the festival concert can be seen on PBS stations on Dec. 18 at 8 p.m., with repeat broadcasts on many PBS stations on Dec. 23 at 7 a.m. and Dec. 25 at 8 a.m. For days and times in other areas across the nation, viewers should check local listings or log onto the St. Olaf Christmas Festival web site, www.stolaf.edu/christmasfest where broadcast information for each state is now available.

WCAL 89.3 will air the festival concert several times throughout the holiday season. On Sunday, Dec. 2, at 3:30 p.m., the St. Olaf Christmas Festival can be heard live and in its entirety on WCAL 89.3 in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area and 88.7 KMSE in Rochester. The radio broadcast of the concert will also air on WCAL on Dec. 24 at 9 a.m., Dec. 25 at 1 p.m., and Jan. 6 at 1 p.m. The concert can also be heard online at www.wcal.org.

The St. Olaf Christmas Festival, held Nov. 30 through Dec. 2, features music both traditional and new that addresses the realities of today. It is one of the oldest and most prominent celebrations of Christmas in the United States and has been hailed by The New York Times as "one of the top ten Christmas events in the U.S. not to be missed."

"Our goal is to provide a message of hope and healing ? an essential message of the Christmas season that will have a special resonance this holiday," said Anton Armstrong, artistic director of the St. Olaf Christmas Festival. "We are excited about this opportunity to share our music with national audiences again. Only a relative handful of people get to experience the Christmas Festival in person, but for millions of others the festival has become a treasured tradition, thanks to annual public television broadcasts."

Five choral ensembles and the St. Olaf Orchestra ­ more than 550 student musicians in all ­ will perform a rich repertoire of classic Christmas compositions along with familiar carols and hymns from around the world.

The participating choral ensembles include the critically acclaimed 74-member St. Olaf Choir, conducted by Armstrong; the 65-member Viking Chorus and the 120-member Chapel Choir, both conducted by Robert Scholz; the 110-member Cantorei, conducted by John Ferguson and the 100-member Manitou Singers, conducted by Sigrid Johnson. The St. Olaf Orchestra is conducted by Steven Amundson. Each group performs individually and as part of a mass ensemble. Visitors to St. Olaf may take part in a number of other special events during the festival, including a traditional Scandinavian Christmas smørgasbord meal, a worship service featuring the St. Olaf Band, performances by several music ensembles, and book signings in the St. Olaf Bookstore.

Visitors needn?t have tickets to concert performances to partake of these activities.

Bon Appetit will serve traditional Norwegian meals during the Scandinavian Christmas Smørgasbord. The smørgasbord will be served in the Black and Gold Ballroom of Buntrock Commons from 4 to 7 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, Nov. 29 and 30; from 3:30 to 7 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 1; and from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 2. The price is $16.75 per person.

The Scandinavian buffet also will be served (along with traditional dining hall fare) in Stav Hall of Buntrock Commons from 4:30 to 7 p.m. on Thursday through Saturday, Nov. 29 through Dec. 1, and from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 2. The price is $12.50 per person.

Other St. Olaf Christmas events include these book-signing events in the St. Olaf Bookstore, Buntrock Commons:

  • Erik Brooks will sign The Practically Perfect Pajamas on Thursday, Nov. 29, from 5 to 7 p.m.

  • Kathleen Stokker will sign Keeping Christmas: Yuletide Traditions in Norway and the New Land on Friday, Nov. 30, from 5 to 7 p.m.

  • Jim Heynen will sign The Boys? House and Standing Naked on Saturday, Dec. 1, from 5 to 7 p.m.

  • Neil Palmer Kittlesen will sign Growing Up in Frost: Memories From Small Town America on Sunday, Dec. 2, from 1 to 3 p.m.

On Dec. 3, the St. Olaf Band will make its annual contribution to the Sunday worship service in Boe Memorial Chapel. The service, open to the public, is at 10:30 a.m.

The annual German Advent Service will be on Wednesday, Dec. 5, at 10:10 a.m. in Boe Memorial Chapel. The service is open to the public.

St. Olaf College prepares students to become responsible citizens of the world, fostering development of mind, body and spirit. A four-year, coeducational liberal arts college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), St. Olaf has a student enrollment of 2,950 and a full-time faculty complement of approximately 300. It is one of Money Guide?s top 100 "elite values in college education today," and it leads the nation?s colleges in percentage of students who study abroad.

Contact Carole Leigh Engblom at 507-786-3315 or leigh@stolaf.edu.