Music At St. Olaf
St. Olaf's world-renowned music program was founded by F. Melius Christiansen in 1903. Its band, choir and orchestra tour the continental U.S. annually and have made many critically acclaimed international tours (that occur every three years). The St. Olaf Band, currently under the direction of Timothy Mahr '78, was the first American college musical organization to conduct a concert tour abroad when it traveled to Norway in 1906. In March 1997, the St. Olaf Band toured California for nine days. They were one of four college or university bands invited to perform at the prestigious American Bandmasters Association National Convention in San Diego. Most recently, the band conducted a study tour of Japan in 2010.
The St. Olaf Orchestra is conducted by Steven Amundson. Under Amundson’s direction, the Orchestra has performed demanding scores seldom attempted by amateur groups, including Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 (Resurrection), Stravinsky’s Petrouchka and Rite of Spring, Ravel’s La valse, and tone poems by Richard Strauss. The orchestra has also premiered several new compositions in recent years.
The St. Olaf Choir, conducted by Anton Armstrong ’78, was founded by Christiansen in 1907 as the St. John’s Lutheran Church Choir in Northfield. It is recognized as one of the premier collegiate ensembles in the United States. It has toured Europe several times, as well as China, Korea, and Australia, performing before heads of state and producing more than a dozen recordings. The choir performs in the nationally broadcast annual St. Olaf Christmas Festival, along with the St. Olaf Orchestra and four of the college's other choirs. In 2005 the St. Olaf Choir was invited to perform at the White House for President George W. Bush, First Lady Laura Bush and guests to commemorate The National Day of Prayer.
The St. Olaf Jazz I ensemble was recently awarded the prestigious Downbeat magazine award for top undergraduate large ensemble in 2011. This is particularly worthy of note as St. Olaf has no jazz studies department or jazz program.
Other student musical ensembles include Chapel Choir, Cantorei, Manitou Singers, Viking Chorus, Collegiate Chorale, Philharmonia, Norseman Band and many smaller vocal and instrumental ensembles. There are also four student-run music ensembles at St. Olaf: Valhalla Band, Naknefeler Orchestra, and the men's and women's a cappella groups: The Limestones and Agnes, respectively. These groups are not a part of the college's music program and operate independently.
In 2005 the St. Olaf Band, St. Olaf Orchestra, and St. Olaf Choir toured throughout Norway to celebrate its centennial of independence from Sweden.
A few ensembles that sprouted their roots at St. Olaf include the Minnesota Symphonic Winds and the a cappella choral groups Cantus, Inpulse and Magnum Chorum.
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“The basic difference between classical music and jazz is that in the former the music is always greater than its performance—Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, for instance, is always greater than its performance—whereas the way jazz is performed is always more important than what is being performed.”
—André Previn (b. 1929)