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Choir concludes Winter Tour with 'Home' concert

By David Gonnerman '90
February 13, 2006

The St. Olaf Choir, under conductor Anton Armstrong '78, concluded its annual Winter Tour with a performance in Boe Memorial Chapel Sunday. The performance was the first that the choir has performed on campus since Armstrong was awarded Baylor University's prestigious Cherry Award for Great Teaching last month -- the most prestigious award for individual teaching in the United States.

Choir06
The 2005-06 St. Olaf Choir.
This year's tour took the ensemble across the American Midwest on an exciting program that includes grand pipe organ and brass music. John Ferguson, the Elliot and Klara Stockdal Johnson Professor of Organ Music at St. Olaf and one of America's most respected church musicians, accompanied the tour this year.

(Read a review of the choir's Des Moines performance.)

A national tour to a region of the United States is an annual tradition for the choir, and each year Armstrong selects a program that features a rich tapestry of classical, sacred and world music. "In the Midwest there are many venues with outstanding grand pipe organs, and for a long time I have dreamed about showcasing the St. Olaf Choir's diverse tonal qualities with organ and brass," says Armstrong, who has led the ensemble since 1990. "This repertory is exciting and it celebrates the talents of my colleague, John Ferguson, and celebrates the heritage of this ensemble and the depth of the St. Olaf music program."

THE PROGRAM
Opening with three faces of the Baroque tradition (Jacob Gallus, Henry Purcell and Heinrich Schutz), this year's program also featured a dynamic presentation of what Armstrong calls "the music of the church," including Samuel S. Wesley's The Church's One Foundation, which was arranged by organist John Ferguson and calls for the audience to join in. Also featured was Psalm 126: A Song of Ascents by the young Minnesota composer Abbie Betinis '01, a former member of the St. Olaf Choir. "St. Olaf is a college of the church. And while the St. Olaf Choir is rooted in many great music traditions, this year we have a unique opportunity to showcase this side of our rich heritage," Armstrong says.

Armstrong also included a segment in the program titled "In Remembrance: A Musical Lament," featuring David N. Childs' In Remembrance, Robert A. Harris' Canticle: The Hungry Angels and Frank Martin's Agnus Dei (Mass for Double Choir). "This has been a very difficult year for many in our country and around the world," Armstrong says. "During this tour we were in a region where people have been directly touched by the impact of Hurricane Katrina, and we wanted these works to offer a compassionate and thought-provoking response to those who have suffered loss."

A BUSY YEAR
The 2006 tour follows an acclaimed 2005 season that included a performance at the White House in May for President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush during the National Day of Prayer. In February, Armstrong and the choir were honored with a request to perform in the final concerts of the 2005 National Conference of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) in Los Angeles, which included singing in the final concert of the convention at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. The next day the choir was in New York to perform at Carnegie Hall.

Celebrating Norway's Centennial as well as more than 100 years of friendship and historical legacy between St. Olaf College and Norway, the St. Olaf Choir, the St. Olaf Orchestra and the St. Olaf Band took an unprecedented three-week tour to Norway last summer. In December St. Olaf Records released the program A St. Olaf Christmas in Norway (recorded in Trondheim during this tour) on both CD and DVD. That same month the program was broadcast nationally on PBS stations.

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