The internationally known St. Olaf Orchestra from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn., will perform at Lassiter High School on Saturday, February 7, 2015 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults and seniors, students are free. Tickets can be purchased at stolaftickets.com, or by calling 1-800-363-5487. Called “one of the best college orchestras in the nation” by Time magazine’s Richard Ostling, the St. Olaf Orchestra is known for its passionate music-making and professional-level performances. The orchestra’s tour of Georgia and Florida this winter will feature a repertoire that includes Dvorak’s brilliant Carnival Overture, Tchaikovsky’s lively “Dance of the Jesters” from The Snow Maiden, and Rimsky-Korsakov’s masterful Scheherazade. Two students will also be performing solos with the orchestra, rotating throughout the tour.
The St. Olaf Orchestra, led by conductor Steven Amundson, was recently named the winner of the 2013 American Prize for Orchestral Performance among colleges and
universities. As part of the internationally acclaimed St. Olaf Christmas Festival, the Orchestra has been broadcast on PBS and public radio stations nationwide.
In addition to performing throughout the United States, and notably as Garrison Keillor’s guest on broadcasts of A Prairie Home Companion in 2001 and 2011, the
St. Olaf Orchestra has performed internationally in Norway, Austria, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Switzerland, Spain, and China. They plan to tour Argentina in 2016.
Steven Amundson is in his 34th year on the faculty of St. Olaf College, where in addition to leading the orchestra, he teaches courses in music theory and conducting. Before arriving in Minnesota in 1981, he served as the music director of the Tacoma Youth Symphony and was the music director and conductor of the Bloomington (MN) Symphony. In addition to guest conducting many of this country’s All-State orchestras, Amundson has served as a guest conductor for the Interlochen National Arts Camp and several professional orchestras, including the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. In the 1980 International Conducting Competition hosted by the Mozarteum and Austrian National Radio, Amundson won the first (Hans Häring) prize. In 1992, the Minnesota Music Educators Association named him “Orchestra Educator of the Year.”
2015 Winter Tour
St. Olaf Orchestra
Saturday, February 7, 8:00 p.m.
Lassiter High School
Shared concert with the Lassiter Chamber Orchestra
Marietta, GA