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St. Olaf Orchestra, Chapel Choir, Cantorei to present annual Spring Oratorio concert April 22

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April 17, 2001

NORTHFIELD, Minn. ?The St. Olaf Orchestra, Chapel Choir and Cantorei will collaborate on a "Requiem" by Maurice Duruflé and Verdi?s "Te Deum" in the college?s annual Spring Oratorio concert Sunday, April 22.

The concert is directed by St. Olaf music faculty member Robert Scholz and is dedicated to the memory of St. Olaf faculty members and students who have died in the last year. The concert, in Boe Memorial Chapel, will begin at 7:30 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

The Chapel Choir and St. Olaf Orchestra will start the concert with the Duruflé "Requiem." Written in 1947, the "Requiem" has become an important 20th-century work and has been performed in its entirety twice before at St. Olaf. The St. Olaf Cantorei will join the Chapel Choir and St. Olaf Orchestra to present the dramatic "Te Deum" piece. The "Te Deum" is one of Verdi?s last compositions and will receive its St. Olaf premiere at this concert.

For almost half a century the Chapel Choir and St. Olaf Orchestra have presented a mixture of the great masterworks for chorus and orchestra, such as the Bach Passion, and less-performed works such as Britten?s War Requiem and World of the Spirit. The Spring Oratorio concert series was started by Kenneth Jennings, director emeritus of the St. Olaf Choir. Scholz has conducted since 1969, collaborating with Steven Amundson, conductor of the St. Olaf Orchestra. This year the St. Olaf Cantorei, conducted by St. Olaf music faculty member John Ferguson, joins the concert, bringing their excellence to the evening of music.

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 of approximately 250. 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 Michael Cooper at 507-786-3315 or cooperm@stolaf.edu.