*** For tickets and info about our February 2009 tour of the Southeast U.S., go here: http://stolaftickets.universitytickets.com/user_pages/category.asp?id=40 ***
The St. Olaf Choir, with 75 mixed voices, is the pioneer a cappella choir in the United States. For more than three-quarters of a century, the choir has set a standard of choral excellence and remained at the forefront of choral artistry. Directed since 1990 by Anton Armstrong, the St. Olaf Choir continues to develop the tradition that originated with its founder, F. Melius Christiansen.
The choir continues to be a vital artistic force with both an exciting calendar of events and a growing library of recordings. The purpose of the St. Olaf Choir is to provide music of the highest quality which lifts people's hearts and spirits, incorporating a diversity of cultural voices and sounds into the chorus of the Christian faith.
A preview of our upcoming tour to the Southeast by our conductor:
About the choir and its mission:
A 2007 performance of "Water Night" by Eric Whitacre at the Strathmore Center in Washington, D.C:
"So often we create art for self-gain. While art does not need to be functional to have value and worth, it has greater value and worth when it transforms the listener and can be a catalyst for change" -Anton Armstrong, Conductor
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Hi!St.Olaf Choir**Welcome to myspace**It is for you so others can hear your beautiful music.You all are great singers and I thank God for you being here. your friend Reggie
Hey I just heard on the radio that you'll be here in Seattle at the end of the month. I hope you enjoy your visit here. I sang at Benaroya last June with Seattle Pro Musica. It's a big space!
Thank you for adding me to your friends list and for your beautiful singing. I would like to invite you to listen to two of my choral works at my MySpace site, namely excerpts from EVERLASTING LIGHT (track 5) and THE TROPARION OF KASSIANI (track 6). Enjoy.
OMG! Yall are my favorite choir to listen to! Your director is AMAZING!! I was in the Texas All-State Mixed choir this year and Dr. Armstrong conducted us! When my grandpa died I rememberd things he told us about his mom and it made me feel better about my grandpa.
Dear current and past choir members and associates. Even in the middle of the Mediterranean, it is nice to not forget about roots. Listening to excerpts from the HOME CONCERT 2007 for the first time this evening here in Spain, I had even spoken about my tour with choir to Australia this afternoon. Fondest greetings and wishes. Sincerely, Dave
I, myself am currently in the choir and I am also a vocal music ed major. This is my second year in the choir and my third year at St. Olaf.
As far as the choir auditions go, most everyone who tries out is good enough to be in the choir and at callbacks it all depends on which voices fit in. Even if you don't make it in to the St. Olaf choir, St. Olaf has two other amazing upper classmen choirs: Cantorei and Chapel Choir. As a first-year student you are either in Manitou (the women's choir) or Viking (the men's choir) which are also very talented groups.
In regards to the music education program: fabulous! I love it. If you get a degree from St. olaf in music ed you can pretty much get a job in most places. It has a strong reputation. Not only does it look good, but you also learn so much. The head of the music ed program is a genious: she is a respected scholar, but also has so much experience of her own in the classroom. Another great thing that most colleges don't get to do is that all the senior advanced conducting students put together lab choirs (20-30 singers each). They run their own rehearsals and all perform in a concert towards the end of the term.
I hope this helps. If you have anymore questions feel free to ask me or you can get in contact with St. olaf's music department. I would encourage checking out the website.
hey...for those who all have been in the St. Olaf choir, how difficult is it to get into...and also how about the music program there. especially choral music edu? any help would be nice. thanks!
