Gustavus Adolphus College

The Gustavus Choir

The Department of Music is pleased to present the Gustavus Choir’s Home Concert, Saturday, May 3, at 7:30 p.m. in Christ Chapel. This concert features guest conductor Robert Scholz and concludes the choir’s annual concert tour which included concerts throughout the Midwest.

Now in its 76th year, the Gustavus Choir is one of six choirs in an active and highly integrated choral program at the college. Under the leadership of Dr. Gregory Aune, the choir has toured extensively throughout the continental United States, and internationally in South Africa and Italy. In January 2007, the choir spent three weeks touring and performing in Spain and Portugal. During this year’s tour, the choir will be conducted by Dr. Robert Scholz while Aune is on a leave of absence.

The schedule for this year’s tour included stops in Rochester, Milwaukee, Cary, Illinois, and St. Paul. In addition to the tour, the Gustavus Choir will also present this home concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 3 at Christ Chapel. In recent years, the choir has toured throughout the United States and presented concert tours in Spain, Portugal, Italy, South Africa and Sweden.

Among the selections on this year’s tour program, Dr. Scholz has included Charles Stanford’s Magnificat, Egil Hovland’s The Glory of the Father, Eric Whitacre’s Cloudburst, Stephen Paulus’ Pilgrim’s Hymn, and Kenneth Jennings’ The Lord is the Everlasting God. The Choir concludes the program with Sure on This Shining Night by Morten Lauridsen, the Resurrection Samba by Georg Riedel and the traditional closer, F. Melius Christiansen’s Praise to the Lord.

The importance of music in the Gustavus undergraduate curriculum has long been recognized. Nearly one third of its more than 2,500 students register for courses in theory, history, appreciation, pedagogy, and performance of music each year and participate in some 30 performing ensembles.

The college’s Department of Music is housed in the Schaefer Fine Arts Center. The center’s music wing features the 475-seat Jussi Bjorling Recital Hall; a fully computerized music lab for students in music theory, composing/arranging, and class piano; class and rehearsal rooms; 30 private practice rooms; and the Lund Music Library, which contains more than 20,000 music recordings, 45,000 scores and anthologies, a music reference section, and listening equipment.