The Kansas City Star recently included the Augsburg Choir’s upcoming tour stop at Immanuel Lutheran Church in an article detailing their classical music recommendations. The article describes the ensemble as “one of the finest Lutheran choirs in the country.”
Read the article on the Kansas City Star site. For more information on future choir performances, visit the Augsburg Choir Tour site.
The Hastings Star Gazette newspaper recently interviewed Abby Schultz ’17, a member of the Augsburg Choir who performed with singer Barry Manilow at the Xcel Energy Center last month. In addition to singing in the choir, Schultz also serves as its manager.
“It’s an experience I will always remember, not only because I got to perform with Barry Manilow, but as the choir manager I got to be interviewed by KARE 11 and FOX 9,” Schultz said. “I’m glad it happened when I was in the choir, for sure.”
The article also notes that Schultz will be performing with a mixed choir in Italy this summer. “I don’t know when I’ll get another opportunity to do this,” she said of the trip.
Read Hastings’ Abby Schultz performed with Barry Manilow, Augsburg College Choir on the Hastings Star Gazette site.
The Sun Current newspaper recently covered Augsburg Choir’s performance with Barry Manilow at the singer’s Xcel Energy Center concert on April 7. The article notes that Eden Prairie High School graduate Kaia Markovich ’17 was one of 30 choir members who joined Manilow on stage for his encore. Markovich is a chemistry major who sings alto in the choir.
Read Eden Prairie graduate performs with Barry Manilow on the Sun Current site. For more information about the performance, visit the News and Media blog.
The Hudson Star-Observer, a newspaper in Hudson, Wis., recently interviewed Augsburg College student and choir member McKenna Selissen ’18 about her experience performing with the Augsburg Choir as they joined Barry Manilow at the Xcel Energy Center.
“It was unbelievable to share the stage with someone so well respected and well known in the music world,” Selissen said. “I am amazed how many hit songs he’s had and with all the commercial jingles he’s wrote; he is extremely talented.”
The students who performed with Manilow were each given a pair of complimentary tickets to the concert. Selissen, a music therapy major, happily gifted her tickets to two of her clients. One of the clients uses Manilow’s music extensively in his therapy sessions.
“He knows every song and all the words so it was such a coincidence when we were asked to do this. This client was beyond excited to not only go to his first concert, but to see his very favorite singer,” Selissen said.
Read HHS alum performs with Barry Manilow on the Hudson Star-Observer site.
Though the semester program classes have ended at Augsburg for this academic year, students and faculty are still on the move. Starting on the day after last weekend’s commencement ceremony, groups of Auggies departed both to share their musical talents and to study abroad.
On May 6, the Augsburg Choir, under the direction of Peter Hendrickson ’76, departed for a 12-day tour of the Midwest. With stops in North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Washington state, the Choir will perform nine concerts and have opportunities to connect with potential Auggies and their families as well as alumni and friends of the College. Continue reading “Auggies abroad in the summer”
In the early morning on the day after May commencement, 60 Augsburg Choir members, their director, the tour manager, and an additional faculty representative will board two tour buses and set off on the 2008 choir tour. The group will present its home concert in Hoversten Chapel on Friday, May 2 at 8 p.m. followed by performances in eight different cities from Illinois to Virginia.
The year-end performances, according to director Peter Hendrickson ’76, DMA, are the requisite capstone of the singers’ learning experience. He said, “Music is a threefold process: the composer writes a piece, the choir learns the music, and the choir performs before an audience. This sequence is how music is brought to fruition, and it only occurs in performance. Thus, the end product of this academic discipline is where students learn the art of bringing music to life.” Continue reading “Augsburg Choir tours Midwest and East Coast”
The 20th Reformation Sunday “Singing the Faith” hymn fest at Luther Seminary on Oct. 28 will feature the Augsburg Choir and include other Augsburg connections. The program starts at 7 p.m. in Olson Campus Center.
The theme, “The Apostles’ Creed and the Hymnody of Paul Gerhardt,” celebrates the 400th anniversary of the birth of this hymn writer, known as the “Sweet Singer of Lutheranism.” Gracia Grindal ‘65, Luther Seminary professor of rhetoric and creator of “Singing the Faith,” has chosen to focus on Gerhardt’s hymn, Befiehl du deine Wege (Trust in God), based on Psalm 34. The Augsburg Choir, directed by Peter Hendrickson, will premiere a newly-commissioned work, which introduces a new tune for the hymn, and Grindal is providing a more poetic translation for the hymn text. Continue reading “Singing the Faith – an Augsburg Night”
