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St. Olaf Band to perform 'Lincoln Portrait' on bicentennial of president's birth

By David Gonnerman '90
January 30, 2009

The St. Olaf Band, conducted by Timothy Mahr '78, will perform Aaron Copland's "A Lincoln Portrait" on the president's 200th birthday Feb. 12. The performance, the "Home" concert of the ensemble's domestic tour, will take place at 7:30 p.m. in Skoglund Center Auditorium. College Pastor Bruce Benson will narrate. The performance will be streamed live and archived online.

"The soaring oratory of Abraham Lincoln, arguably one of America's most revered presidents, set against a musical background by one of our nation's greatest composers makes for a moving musical experience," Mahr says. "His words might be a little more than 150 years old, but they speak to us during today's troubled times with immediacy and power."

The concert will conclude this year's tour, which took the ensemble throughout California. The program also will feature three student soloists, the premiere performance of a movement from prolific band composer David Maslanka's Symphony No. 8, and a new composition by Mahr.

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