- This event has passed.
St. Olaf Choir
February 6, 2023 @ 7:00 pm
The St. Olaf Choir resumes its robust touring tradition with an 11-city tour across the West Coast.
The internationally acclaimed St. Olaf Choir, conducted by Dr. Anton Armstrong,
will perform at Mondavi Center in Davis on Monday, February 6 at 7:00 p.m. as part of its
2023 national tour.
The St. Olaf Choir has set a gold standard for choral singing, and the ensemble’s 75 singers
and Armstrong will perform in 11 cities from Sunday, January 29, through Friday, February
10, 2023, presenting concerts in some of the nation’s finest churches and concert halls in a
four-state tour of Arizona, California, Oregon, and Washington.
“Hearing the St. Olaf Choir in concert is more than just a musical experience,” says Anton
Armstrong. “Our singers, performing at the highest artistic level, convey a message of hope.
Our music provides a bridge to what can unite us at a time when the world is so divided. We
often hear from concertgoers who tell us they are not only struck by the sound and uniformity
of the St. Olaf Choir, but also by the earnestness of what comes through the voices of our
young singers. Our singers touch the hearts and souls of listeners, and our audiences leave
transformed.”
Tickets are available for all tour concerts online at stolaf.edu/tickets. For the Davis
performance, tickets range between $25-50 for adults, and $10 for students of all ages. Tickets
can be found here for the Davis performance, https://tickets.mondaviarts.org/7845/7846
The 2022 National Tour marks Anton Armstrong’s 33 rd year as conductor of the St. Olaf Choir,
and is the fourth to lead the ensemble during its 111-year history. In addition to his role as a
professor of music at St. Olaf College, he is in demand in the international choral scene as a
guest conductor and lecturer. Like his three predecessors, Armstrong carries forward the
international reputation of the St. Olaf Choir, an ensemble that is rooted in St. Olaf College’s
tradition of faith and commitment to a global perspective.
The choir’s musical selections for the tour reflect these values with a variety of both sacred
and secular works. The program will include pieces by living and traditional composers
including Eric Whitacre, Rosephanye Powell, Kim André Arnesen, Moses G. Hogan Jr., and the
choir’s founder: F. Melius Christiansen.
About the St. Olaf Choir
St. Olaf Choir • 2022 National Winter Tour
The St. Olaf Choir was founded in 1912 by F. Melius Christiansen, whose work established the
ensemble’s standard of excellence and its tradition of bringing music to audiences outside of
campus. Christiansen chose spiritually profound music and pushed student musicians to
perfect a tone that was disciplined, controlled, and free of excessive vibrato. That sound —
securely in tune, controlled in pitch, smooth in delivery — became the choir’s hallmark. For
more than a century, under the leadership of succeeding conductors Olaf
C. Christiansen, Kenneth Jennings, and Anton Armstrong, the St. Olaf Choir has set the gold
standard for choral singing, performing for millions around the world.
When Armstrong took the helm in 1990, his vast knowledge of music and his ability to
articulate a vision to singers and audiences alike took the St. Olaf Choir to the next level,
adding more flavor to its signature sound and further expanding its repertoire to include
music of the Pacific Rim, Africa, and Latin America. Under Armstrong’s leadership, the choir
continues to expand its touring horizons, engaging capacity audiences in major concert halls
throughout the United States and worldwide. The ensemble has toured internationally fifteen
times.
Stay up to date with the choir on Facebook and Instagram. For more info visit:
stolafchoir.com.
