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St. Olaf Band performs home concert

By David Gonnerman '90
February 6, 2006

The 90-member St. Olaf Band, one of the nation's leading collegiate concert bands, performed under conductor Timothy Mahr '78 at the college's Skoglund Center Auditorium Feb. 6. The performance brought to a close the band's annual winter tour that took the ensemble to Denver this year.

StOlafBand06
The 2005-06 St. Olaf Band.
"St. Olaf College has understood the inherent value and supported fully the touring efforts of its music organizations for 100 years," says Mahr, who has led the band since 1994. "These opportunities allow our students to explore the depths of the music night after night, uncovering new artistic meaning with each performance, while sharing our discoveries with eager and appreciative audiences."

The program included a premiere performance of composer David Maslanka's Symphony No. 7. Maslanka's compositions have been performed throughout the United States and Europe and in Canada, Japan and Australia. Many of his works for winds and percussion are considered standards of the wind band repertory. "Maslanka's music comments on the human condition in a very powerful and convincing manner," says Mahr. "His vital compositional voice is an important one for our time and we're honored to share it."

The program also featured Overture to Colas Breugnon by Dmitry Borisovich Kabalevsky and They Sing of Love by Mahr.

An accomplished composer, Mahr has written some 50 works, including a commission last year to write a piece in honor of Northfield's sesquicentennial. In 1991 he received the American Bandmasters Association/Ostwald Award for his piece, The Soaring Hawk. He also is a recipient of the National Band Association's Citation of Excellence. After graduating from St. Olaf summa cum laude with bachelor of music and bachelor of arts degrees, he attended the University of Iowa, earning both a master's in trombone performance and a doctorate in instrumental conducting.

The century-old St. Olaf Band is the oldest musical organization at St. Olaf College, which is recognized internationally for the high caliber of its musical ensembles. The group's first tour, in 1903-04, took it to Iowa. In 1906 the band traveled to Norway for a four-week, 30-concert tour that earned it the distinction of being the first American collegiate band to undertake a European concert tour. In the summer of 2005 the band, along with the St. Olaf Choir and St. Olaf Orchestra, returned to Norway to help that country celebrate its centennial.

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