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St. Olaf Chapel Choir to present 'Living Water' vespers service

By Trent Chaffee '09
October 12, 2007

The St. Olaf College Chapel Choir will host its annual fall vespers service, this year called "Living Water," Sunday, Oct. 21, at 7:30 p.m. in Boe Memorial Chapel. The Viking Chorus of first-year men will be musical guests. Faculty member Christopher Aspaas '95 will conduct the service. St. Olaf students, faculty, staff and the public are welcome to this free event, which will be streamed live and archived online.

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Conductor Christopher Aspaas '95 hopes that local drought and flood victims can take comfort from this year's vespers service.
Vespers, or evening prayer, represents one of the canonical hours of worship practiced for centuries and codified by Catholic monks. The service is based around the Lutheran liturgy for vespers and includes hymns, chants, scripture and poetry. Readings and responses in the service are divided into five sections concerning water: Thirst, Rain, Flood, Healing Promise and Life flows on. Hymns include two movements of Herbert Howells' Requiem, Matthew Culloton's "Famine Song," and Jeffrey Ames' "I've been in the Storm So Long."

Aspaas, conductor of the Chapel Choir and Viking Chorus, chose the theme "Living Waters" because of the rich stories of water found in scripture and poetry that he believes relate strongly to everyone. While he has been planning the service for more than a year, Aspaas' inspiration grew as he saw two months of summer drought followed by flooding impact southern Minnesota farmers.

"The feast and famine of our summer season has been difficult for so many folks," says Aspaas. "And there are members of Chapel Choir whose homes were flooded or damaged during the rains."

Aspaas hopes audience members affected by the drought and floods will find comfort in the music and words of service. He also looks forward to continuing to foster the tradition of the vespers service with Chapel Choir and bringing the St. Olaf and Northfield communities together.

"With more than 200 singers collaborating, I think this is going to be a wonderful music event we all can celebrate."

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