Gustavus Adolphus College

The Gustavus Wind Orchestra, now in its one hundred and thirty-first year, is the official touring wind orchestra from the Department of Music at Gustavus Adolphus College.

During its long history, the Gustavus Wind Orchestra has toured extensively in the United States and Canada and five times in Scandinavia and Europe. In January 1990, the wind orchestra was honored as the first American ensemble to receive an invitation to present a concert in East Berlin after the fall of the Berlin Wall. In 1994, the wind orchestra returned to Eastern Europe to perform for standing-room-only audiences in Poland, the Czech and Slovak Republics, Hungary, Austria and Germany.

The GWO's recent tours include 1988, 1992, 1995, and 2004 Rocky Mountain States tours, a 1989 tour to the southwest, a 1991 Midwest tour and also 1990, 1994,1998, 2002 and 2006 tours of Scandinavia and Europe. The spring of 2007 marked the sixth time that the wind orchestra has been selected to perform at the Minnesota Music Educators Association Mid-Winter Clinic.

Eastern Europe

In January of 2006, The Gustavus Wind Orchestra made a return tour to Eastern Europe. The literature for that tour included the premiere of a new composition, Light of My Soul, composed by David Gillingham and commissioned by Gustavus Adolphus College specifically for the 2006 Eastern European Tour.

Florida

During Spring Break/Easter 2008, the GWO completed a landmark tour to Florida, performing on ten occasions, including three Easter Sunday services to 3400 people in Vero Beach. Repertoire included David Holsinger's "The Death Tree," from his magnum opus, "The Easter Symphony," two movements of which were commissioned by Gustavus Adolphus College.