FOR MORE INFORMATION:
GORDON MOE, manager, The Concordia Choir
(218) 299-4886 / moe@cord.edu
AMY KELLY, Communications and Media Relations director
(218) 299-3642
THE CONCORDIA CHOIR CONCLUDES TOUR WITH HOME CONCERT
The Concordia Choir will perform at 4 p.m. Sunday, March 12, in Memorial Auditorium. The concert is free and open to the public.
The concert, part of the choir’s 15-day, 2017 national tour of the Southwestern United States, included performances in Denver; Cherry Hills Village and Colorado Springs, Colo.; Santa Fe, and Las Cruces, N.M.; Tucson, Scottsdale and Sun City, Ariz.; Rancho Santa Fe, Dana Point, Palm Desert, and Thousand Oaks, Calif., and Moorhead, Minn.
The 72-voice a cappella choir is conducted by René Clausen, a world-renowned conductor and composer. He is also the artistic director of the Emmy® winning Concordia Christmas Concerts seen by audiences of 18,000 each year. Clausen has written more than 100 commissioned compositions for ensembles across the world including the St. Olaf Choir and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. On the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 national tragedy he conducted his composition “MEMORIAL” in Lincoln Center, New York City – a piece originally commissioned by the American Choral Director’s Association.
A February 2010 performance and recording session with the Grammy Award-winning King’s Singers and multiple performances on Garrison Keillor’s “Prairie Home Companion” radio show highlight the choir’s world-class quality.
Clausen, celebrating his 31st year at Concordia, has programmed a varied set including a section titled, “How Can I Keep From Singing,” which includes works by Pete Seeger, Norman Luboff and Shawn Kirchener. Other composers include Hugo Distler, Heinrich Schutz, Krzysztof Penderecki, Alexandre Gretchaninoff, J.S. Bach and the conductor’s own composition. The final set includes a number of hymns, folk songs and spirituals.
Touring nationally and internationally since 1918, The Concordia Choir has performed in nearly every major hall in the United States and continues to affirm its reputation as one of the nation’s finest a cappella choirs. Paul J. Christiansen, son of F. Melius Christiansen, was the conductor of The Concordia Choir for 49 years.
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