St. Olaf Choir Concert: Hope for today and for the future

Last night, the St. Olaf Choir sang to a sold out crowd at First Plymouth Church. “Tonight,” said Conductor Anton Armstrong, whose preconcert interview with LincolnCMN can be read here, “this space truly feels like a place of worship.” The concert was more than a concert, in a way, everyone was joined together in a time of prayer—listening and soaking in a “message of hope and light.”

The texts selected varied in language, but certainly all contained the transformative message of love and hope that Armstrong spoke of at the end of the evening. Latin, Hebrew, German, and English were all sung, and the texts ranged from scripture to poetry to liturgical prayers. 

St. Olaf Choir 2016 Winter Tour
courtesy of St. Olaf Choir

The variety of styles made the evening more enjoyable than many choral concerts tend to be when the constant sameness of sound has a numbing quality. From a not-often-heard work by Bach to a Ginastera setting of the Lamentations of Jeremiah  to a very unexpected and rousing gospel-style setting of Credo featuring piano and drum set or the beautiful Magnificat of David N. Childs with its ancient text and modern harmonies, the program was designed by a masterful hand. The sound of each new piece was alternately uplifting, exciting, peaceful, beautiful, hopeful, or triumphantly powerful.

Whether the music was written in the 1700s or 2015, the choir was moving with rhythm and emotion flowing through their bodies. An audience can’t help but feel and move with the music when presented with sound and sight that catches them up and draws them along so completely!

In the performance given by these young people, the audience could hear why diction, dynamics, pitch, and the multitude of things a conductor pleads with his choir to do are so important, when done properly, music is created. The details don’t stand out, they are forgotten, and all the listener experiences is simply music—that mysterious art that moves people beyond their own hurts and sorrows and gives them hope. It is clear that whatever transformation may have taken place in the hearts of audience members, the experiences these young college students have from singing in this choir will have a profound impact in who they are as they go out into their various careers. 

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Anton Armstrong and the St. Olaf Choir: Unity, hope, and love

St. Olaf Choir in Concert
courtesy of St. Olaf Choir

On Saturday, January 30th, at 7:00pm, the St. Olaf Choir will perform as a part of the Abendmusik season at First Plymouth Church (2000 D Street). The choir performed in Lincoln in 2011, and whether you were in the audience then or not, now is a not-to-be-missed chance to be transformed by a message of hope and love.

In an exclusive interview with LincolnCMN, Conductor Anton Armstrong explained that the choir’s purpose is “not to entertain.” Instead, “if we have done our job properly, the listener will feel transformed. If the listener is entertained, that is simply a wonderful byproduct.” In selecting the repertoire and rehearsing the choir, Armstrong has spent time on the meaning of the texts “not just on the music.”

What does this mean? Certainly, the St. Olaf Choir excels in their choral sound and musicality. They are “amateurs,” Armstrong says, but only in the best sense of the word which comes from the Latin word “amat, to love.” While the choir sings at a high professional level, it is unlike “professionals [who] often forget the love of the art. This group will not disappoint.”

Having evolved over 104 years, the choir is, in a way, “a microcosm of the college.” St. Olaf College is, as described by Armstrong, “a traditional, liberal arts college, but with a global perspective and grounded in faith; an ecumenical community of faith.”

Anton Armstrong conducting
courtesy of St. Olaf Choir

Armstrong, only the fourth conductor in the history of the choir, sang as a student in the choir during it’s 75th anniversary year. Under his predecessor, Kenneth Jennings, Armstrong was given “insight into the history of the choir.” While Jennings was also “opening the sound” including music more acceptable to modern aesthetics of the late 20th century. Jennings expanded to choir’s repertoire to include not only sacred, but also secular works.

“Jennings opened the door, and I kicked it wide open.” 

Besides including some instruments instead of being exclusively a cappella, Armstrong has broadened the styles of choral music that the choir sings. As the choir has traveled around the world, they have expanded their repertoire to include the music of the places they travel. They’ve also included more music that is a part of America, Armstrong shared, “I love styles of Gospel and African work songs and freedom. No other group was doing that kind of thing when we started.”

In Lincoln, the audience will also hear a piece by a current student in the choir, “encouraging modern composers and works,” and step back in time to a lesser known work by Bach. “It’s a smorgasbord,” Armstrong commented. The evening will include a work by Jennings, Armstrong’s predecessor who passed away this past year; Ginastera, in honor of the hundredth anniversary of his birth; a choral work by Kurt Weill, “he’s not usually associated with choral works, but this is a wonderful piece, a Shabbat prayer.”

Most importantly, Armstrong’s wish for the Lincoln audience is the same as what he wishes for the students in the choir, that “the music will feed their souls.”  

It’s recognizing the diversity of the students, or of the audience, “we think of diversity of ethnicity and race (which there is in this choir), but in the years I’ve been here, I’ve realized that diversity goes beyond that. It is socio-economic, political, religious, spiritual—even if they look the same, they are not the same.” But in this musical experience, Armstrong wants singers and listeners alike to “leave transformed as human beings. To be opened up to a message of hope, of love, and to feel a little better about the world that they live in. In a time of division and hate, find unity and love.” 

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Handbell soloist comes to Lincoln

The evening of August 29, about 60 members of the Lincoln community took the time to attend a handbell solo recital given at First Plymouth Congregational Church. The handbell soloist and her accompanist came to Lincoln from Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania. Sue Garton performs with English handbells, three full octaves span the table, and some pieces require duplicats that she keeps on hand. Garton has performed through the U.S. as well as Kiev, Ukraine, and Presov, Slovakia--and her performance here in Lincoln was a delight.

Garton began by performing "Are you Dressed for the Wedding?" Afterwards, she explained that it is about the heavenly wedding banquet when Christ comes. As she rearranged her bells following the piece, she told the audience that they are arranged like the keys of a piano, but with one advantage, she can move them wherever she wants. Garton and her accompanist, Marilyn Hines, played three more hymns or spirituals including "Lord of the Dance," "Finlandia," and "Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel."

Although the evening also included some Broadway tunes, the most musical, and beautiful arrangement for the handbells was Claude Debussy's "Clair de Lune." The piece is originally written for solo piano, but the arrangement did a wonderful job of dividing the music up between piano and handbells. The video to the side of this article is a recording of Garton playing "Clair de Lune." As the sound from the final notes rang out and died away, there was a pause as the audience let the music sink in before breaking into applause.

When asked how she came to take up the handbells, Garton explained that she joined a church handbell choir in the '70s and by the time she retired in 1992, she had her own handbells. "I quit cooking and cleaning my house, and now I play with my bells all day," she said, smilingly.