St. Olaf Choir
WOW! What a treat I just had. This past night I enjoyed a two and a half hour choral concert performed by the St. Olaf Choir. They just made music and all <ALL> from memory. It is difficult to listen to anything else at the moment. I loved the program, from Durufle’s Ubi caritas to some Eric Whitacre and spirituals, the program was breath taking. Of special note was Penderecki’s Agnus Dei, for which the conductor, Mr. Armstrong, gave a brief explanation and helped the audience through the dissonant section. Very powerful. I remember jerking at the sound of the dissonant chord cluster. It was really moving.
As a fellow collegiate choir member myself, this experience pushes me to aspire to be more than I am. The level of musicianship displayed at the concert was a combined effort of each and every choir member. The conductor had done all the hard work before hand, they hardly needed him. They were all like strong links of a chain. Speaking of links, they held hands the entire time. I think that that had something to do with the sound as well. They were all connected, both phisically and aurally. What a connection.
I left loving choral music even more than I did when I came.