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St. Olaf Orchestra performs 'Home Concert'

By David Gonnerman '90
October 24, 2006

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Amundson
The 92-member St. Olaf Orchestra, conducted by Steven Amundson, performed its annual "Home Concert" Oct. 23 in Skoglund Center Auditorium. The concert concluded the ensemble's nine-city fall tour to Houston.

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Luke Varland '08 from Spring Arbor, Mich., played solo bassoon on Carl Maria von Weber's Andante and Hungarian Rondo. Aria Peters '07 from Billings, Mont., performed Henri Vieuxtemps' Violin Concerto No. 4.
The program included Rossini's popular William Tell Overture and Bright Blue Music by contemporary composer Michael Torke. Two student musicians, Luke Varland '08 on bassoon and Aria Peters '07 on violin, performed solos accompanied by the orchestra. The second half of the concert featured Tchaikovsky's grief-laden Symphony No. 6 ("Pathetique"), the composer's final work that premiered only days before his death.

This is Amundson's 25th year as conductor of the St. Olaf Orchestra. In addition to his conducting, which also includes the Twin Cities-based Metropolitan Symphony and various camps and all-state programs, he is renowned as a composer of works that have been featured in more than 250 performances by professional, university and civic orchestras around the world. Last year Amundon's Shepherd's Jubilee premiered at the St. Olaf Christmas Festival, and this September the Evergreen Symphony in Taiwan premiered his Dusk, Thoughts of Home.

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