Concordia College alumna and composer Sarah Kremer ’16 will premiere her original orchestral work, “A Paddler’s Symphony,” on March 1, 2026, with the Buffalo Community Orchestra in Buffalo, Minnesota.
“It’s a whole story. This whole symphony includes a lot of personal growth and personal experiences through these canoe trips,” Kremer said in an interview on The Paddle and Portage Podcast.
The 30-minute, four-movement symphony draws inspiration from Kremer’s extensive wilderness canoeing experiences and from “Paddle Whispers,” by Minnesota author and wilderness guide Douglas Wood, who will provide live narration during the performance. Kremer, a Buffalo Community Orchestra board member and longtime violinist with the ensemble, describes the work as a musical journey through the Northwoods, capturing night bogs, paddling rhythms, sudden storms, fiddle tunes, and the quiet wonder of nature.
It begins with a cool night and a chorus of frogs, followed by a second movement drawing out imagery from a Hudson Bay trip and the challenges and personal growth of canoe trips. The third movement captures the vastness of the Lake of the Woods, from the colors of the sunsets to its 14,000-plus islands and all its opportunities for exploration. The fourth and final movement is a fiery fiddle tune called “Let the Moose Run.”
Those who haven’t experienced a lengthy canoe expedition shouldn’t be concerned about missing out, though.
“You don’t need to have been on this huge extensive trip to understand this piece,” Kremer said on the podcast. “If you enjoy taking walks outside every day, if you enjoy breathing in the air, if you found wonder in so many magical things, if you have ever picked up a pine cone and held it in your hand and just felt that piece of the earth being connected to something? There is all of that within this symphony.”
The concert, titled “Journey Home,” opens with Edvard Grieg’s “Peer Gynt Suite” and concludes with the world premiere of “A Paddler’s Symphony.” The performance will feature Russell Peterson, Kremer’s saxophone professor and mentor from Concordia, as tenor saxophone soloist in the symphony’s second movement.
The March 1 performance begins at 4 p.m., with a conductor chat at 3 p.m. Reserved seating tickets are available through the Buffalo Community Orchestra.
Kremer currently serves as orchestra director for grades 6-12 at Cathedral Middle and High School in St. Cloud, Minnesota, and directs elementary band programs within Catholic Community Schools.
More
- Study Music at Concordia
- Journey Home concert, the Buffalo Community Orchestra
- “A Paddler’s Symphony”, Kremer's interview on The Paddle and Portage Podcast
- Douglas Wood