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St. Olaf Orchestra to perform home concert at Orchestra Hall

By Elizabeth Child
October 30, 2005

The 92-member St. Olaf Orchestra will perform at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis on Sunday, Oct. 30, at 4:30 p.m.

The special "home" concert follows a nine-city tour from Northfield to New York's Lincoln Center.

Time magazine critic Richard Ostling has called the century-old St. Olaf Orchestra "one of the best college orchestras in the nation."

The program, conducted by composer and St. Olaf Professor of Music Steven Amundson, will feature Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2 and Carl Nielsen's overture to Maskarade, in addition to Amundson's own Longing For Your Return, his reflection on the United States at war.

Tickets are $26 or $20 and can be purchased at the door or in advance by calling 612-371-5656.

The concert will be followed by a reception at the Dakota Jazz Club and Restaurant, owned by Lowell Pickett, a 1971 graduate of St. Olaf College and featuring the St. Olaf ensemble Jazz I.

There is no cover charge, but dinner reservations are strongly suggested: 612-332-1010.

About the Ensemble
The St. Olaf Orchestra is best known for its annual performances during the St. Olaf Christmas Festival, broadcast on PBS and public radio stations nationwide.

The ensemble also performed on National Public Radio's "A Prairie Home Companion" in 2001, after which program host Garrison Keillor said to the orchestra members: "You sounded like the Chicago Symphony and yet you're not crabby and grumpy like they are -- amazing!"

In the summer of 2005, the St. Olaf Orchestra, St. Olaf Band and St. Olaf Choir were invited to perform throughout Norway for that country's celebration of 100 years as an independent nation. The tour also marked 100 years of international touring by St. Olaf ensembles.

Like its sister ensembles from the college, the St. Olaf Orchestra was applauded in reviews:
* "Director Steven Amundson communicated sensitively with the musicians and created fresh and extroverted interpretations," said a review in Bergens Tidende.

* "This was not a school orchestra and school choir on tour. The whole thing gave the impression of being completely professional! They showed qualities that one doesn't expect to find in a youth orchestra -- they were as precise and dynamic in tempi as in strength," said Tronder-Avisa.

About the Conductor
Now in his 25th year at St. Olaf College, Steven Amundson has directed the St. Olaf Orchestra since 1981. He also has gained renown as a composer of works that have been featured in the St. Olaf Christmas Festival and by professional, university and community orchestras, including the Akron, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Columbus, Detroit, Houston, Long Beach, Louisiana, New Mexico, Omaha, Orlando and Virginia symphonies.

Amundson received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Luther College and a Master's of Music in orchestral conducting from Northwestern University. He also has studied under notable conductors such as Erick Leinsdorf, Maurice Abravenel, Milan Norvat and Bernard Rubenstein.

In 1995, Luther College honored him with the Carlo A. Sperati Award for Meritorious Achievement in Music. In 1992, the Minnesota Music Educators Association named Amundson Orchestra Educator of the Year.

In the 1980 International Conducting Competition sponsored by the Mozareum and National Austrian Radio, Amundson placed first, earning him the Hans Haring prize.

Tour Itinerary
The 2005 Fall Tour is the biggest that the St. Olaf Orchestra ever has undertaken, according to manager Richard Erickson '66, with performances in major halls in the Midwest and on the East Coast.

The itinerary is as follows:
Saturday, Oct. 15: Palos Heights, Ill., 8 p.m., Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd

Sunday, Oct. 16: Appleton, Wis., 3:30 p.m., Fox Cities Performing Arts Center

Monday, Oct. 17: Ann Arbor, Mich., 7:30 p.m., Hill Auditorium

Tuesday, Oct. 18: Indianapolis, Ind., 7:30 p.m. Pike Performing Arts Center

Wednesday, Oct. 19: Columbus, Ohio, 7:30 p.m. Mees Hall, Capital University

Thursday, Oct. 20: Harrisburg, Pa., 8 p.m., Central Dauphin East High School auditorium

Friday, Oct. 21: Alexandria, Va., 8 p.m., Schlesinger Concert Hall, North Virginia Community College

Saturday, Oct. 22: Abington, Pa., 8 p.m., Abington High School Auditorium

Sunday, Oct. 23: New York City, 1 p.m., Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center

Sunday, Oct. 30: St. Olaf College Home Concert, 4:30 p.m., Orchestra Hall, Minneapolis

For more information about the tour, visit the St. Olaf Orchestra website.

Contact Elizabeth Child at 507-645-0119 or ec@elizabethchild.com.