The Choir of Christ Chapel
The Choir of Christ Chapel of Gustavus Adolphus College will travel southwest to Arizona when it embarks on its annual tour April 15-18. The upcoming tour includes concert dates in Sun City West, Phoenix, and Tucson.
Directed by Patricia A. Kazarow, the Choir of Christ Chapel is a mixed ensemble of 64 students that draws its repertoire primarily from the fine sacred literature of the mid-18th to 21st centuries. In addition to singing for worship celebrations, the choir participates in the College’s annual holiday celebration Christmas in Christ Chapel and other major choral events on campus.
As part of its mission, the Choir of Christ Chapel annually tours with a program of the sacred music that has shaped the worship celebrations, festivals, and other special events that have occurred at the College during the academic year. This year’s concert, “Within the Circles of Our Lives,” will present music and dramatic readings that have been inspired by our collective life journeys.
Choral music included in the program will be “Precious Lord,” arranged by Roy Ringwald; “Valley of Bones” by Nick Strimple; “The Road Home” by Stephen Paulus; “O nata lux” by David Dickau; and “I Want Jesus to Walk With Me” by Ken Berg. These and other choral works, organ music, and hymns will be interspersed with dramatic readings of a letter by nationally syndicated radio host Garrison Keillor, an excerpt of a spirituality text by English mystic Walter Hilton, and a student poem.
Chad Fothergill, visiting instructor of music and the organist-cantor at Christ Chapel, is the organist for the concert. Rachel S. Larson, Gustavus Chaplain, will serve as program narrator.
The schedule for this year’s Choir of Christ Chapel tour is as follows:
- Thursday, April 15 / Lord of Life Lutheran Church / Sun City West, Ariz. / 7 p.m.
- Friday, April 16 / All Saints Lutheran Church / Phoenix, Ariz. / 7 p.m.
- Sunday, April 18 / Lord of Grace Lutheran Church / Tucson, Ariz. / 8:15 and 10:45 a.m.
Past tour destinations have included San Antonio, St. Louis, Seattle, Denver, Dallas, Kansas City, and Chicago.
Kazarow, a frequent choral clinician and adjudicator, holds a B.A. degree in music from Loretto Heights College in Denver, and M.M. and D.M.A. degrees from the University of Michigan. Kazarow has conducted the Choir of Christ Chapel since she joined the faculty at Gustavus in 1984. She also teaches courses such as “History of Western Music” and “Music of World Cultures,” as well as a First Term Seminar, “The Power of Music” at the College
The Choir of Christ Chapel will also perform a home concert at 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 23 in Christ Chapel. The concert is free and open to the public.
The tradition of concert touring by the music ensembles at Gustavus was established as early as 1878 for the musical, artistic, and educational benefit for the student members. Concert touring provides an opportunity to perform a concert program numerous times, fostering a deeper artistic understanding and expression of the music. It develops high levels of musical discipline and artistic integrity and allows the musicians to experience a variety of acoustic environments and widely diverse audience and ensemble dynamics.
The importance of music in the Gustavus undergraduate curriculum has long been recognized. Nearly half of its more than 2,500 students register for courses in theory, history, appreciation, pedagogy, and performance of music each year and many are members of some 30 performing ensembles.
The College’s Department of Music is housed in the Schaefer Fine Arts Center. The center’s music wing features the 475-seat Jussi Björling Recital Hall; a fully computerized music lab for students in music theory, composing/arranging, and class piano; class and rehearsal rooms; 30 private practice rooms; and the Lund Music Library, which contains more than 20,000 music recordings, 45,000 scores and anthologies, a music reference section, and listening equipment.
For more information about the Choir of Christ Chapel at Gustavus and its upcoming tour, go online to gustavus.edu/finearts/touringschedule/ or contact Lisa Westphal, manager of music tours at Gustavus, at 507-933-7163 or lwestph2@gustavus.edu.
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Media Contact: Director of Media Relations and Internal Communication Luc Hatlestad
luch@gustavus.edu
507-933-7510
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