You reached this page through the archive. Click here to return to the archive.

Note: This article is over a year old and information contained in it may no longer be accurate. Please use the contact information in the lower-left corner to verify any information in this article.

Norseman Band to perform during chapel service

ajb
November 16, 2000

NORTHFIELD, Minn. ? St. Olaf College?s Norseman Band will perform at a Thanksgiving chapel service Tuesday, Nov. 21, at the college.

The performance, free and open to the public, will be in Boe Memorial Chapel at 11:10 a.m. as part of the college?s daily chapel service. For the performance the Norseman Band, conducted by St. Olaf music faculty member Paul Niemisto, will collaborate with organist Brian Carson, director of liturgical music at St. Wesceslaus Catholic Church, New Prague, Minn. (The Norseman Band performed a concert there on Nov 13.)

The program will include "Amazing Grace" by Frank Ticheli; a movement of "Mediaeval Suite" by Ron Nelson; and "Speech of Angels" by Stephen Melillo. The program will also include hymns sung by the congregation.

The Norseman Band, one of two symphonic bands at St. Olaf College, has developed a reputation as a dynamic and exciting concert ensemble. The Norseman Band performs regularly on the St. Olaf campus, and tours each spring to regional locations in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Canada. Band members reflect the broad spectrum of academic interests and geographical diversity of the St. Olaf student body.

The Band includes in its concerts modern pieces for concert band as well as marches and traditional repertoire. The Band strives to program for a wide audience, including young listeners.

The Band?s 1999-2000 season opened with a "Thank-You-Northfield" concert opening St. Olaf College?s 125th Anniversary celebration. Last February the Band was invited to present a concert at the Minnesota Music Educators? conference in Minneapolis, and last spring it offered music for the honorary degree ceremony for Estonian President Lennart Meri.

? more ?

Norseman Band concert ? 2

In a normal academic year the Norseman Band presents four or five concerts, often with student soloists, conductors and composers. The band has produced CD recordings and broadcasts live on WCAL-FM radio several times each year.

Niemisto has been conductor of the Norseman Band since 1978 and teaches low brass instruments as well as music education courses at St. Olaf College. Before that he taught in eastern Canada, and was a band and orchestra conductor and a member of the CBC Halifax Orchestra.

Niemisto earned bachelor?s and master?s degrees from the University of Michigan.

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 256. It is one of Money Guide?s top 100 "elite values in college education today," and it leads the nation?s colleges in number of students who study abroad.

Contact Michael Cooper at 507-786-3315 or cooperm@stolaf.edu.