The 68-member Gustavus Adolphus College Wind Orchestra, conducted by Dr. Douglas Nimmo, will embark on a 16-day, five-country European concert tour from Jan. 22 to Feb. 7. After engaging in daily classes, intensive rehearsals, sectionals, and private practice over the last several weeks, members of the ensemble are ready for the exciting, fulfilling and life-changing tour.
The entire concert schedule for the upcoming tour is as follows:
- Friday, Jan. 24 / 6 p.m. / St. Simon and Judah Church / Prague, Czech Republic
- Sunday, Jan. 26 / 7 p.m. / Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre / Miechów, Poland
- Tuesday, Jan. 28 / 7 p.m. / St. Katherine’s Church / Krakow, Poland
- Thursday, Jan. 30 / 7 p.m. / The Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus / Kety, Poland
- Saturday, Feb. 1 / 6 p.m. / Pomaz Music School / Pomaz, Hungary
- Tuesday, Feb. 4 / 3:30 p.m. / Orangerie Schönbrunn / Vienna, Austria
- Wednesday, Feb. 5 / 7:30 p.m. / Congress and Theatre House / Bad Ischl, Austria
The Gustavus Wind Orchestra will present its home concert at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 15 in Christ Chapel. The concert is free and open to the public.
The Gustavus Wind Orchestra descends directly from Gustavus Adolphus College’s first student instrumental ensemble, which was formed in 1878, soon after the St. Peter community organized a musical society to secure band instruments for the College. From that beginning 136 years ago, the wind orchestra has grown to earn international acclaim though its concerts and tour schedule.
The ensemble has toured extensively in the United States and Canada and seven times in Scandinavia and Europe. In 1990, it was invited as the first American ensemble to present a concert in East Berlin, following the fall of the Berlin Wall on Nov. 9, 1989. In recent years, the ensemble has toured twice in Central Europe and annually throughout the United States.
Dr. Douglas Nimmo
The Gustavus Wind Orchestra’s history includes work with a number of noted composers, including Percy Grainger, David Holsinger, and more recently Steve Heitzeg, an alumnus of the Gustavus Band. For the ensemble’s 2006 international concert tour, composer David Gillingham was commissioned to write a work based on the hymn tune “Beautiful Savior.” For the College’s Sesquicentennial, composer James Stephenson was commissioned to create Intrepid Promise.
Dr. Nimmo has served as conductor of the Gustavus Wind Orchestra since 1987 and has announced that he will retire at the end of the 2013-14 academic year. In addition to his conducting duties, Nimmo teaches instrumental conducting and instrumental methods and supervises student teachers. Dr. Nimmo is a recipient of the College’s Edgar M. Carlson Award for Distinguished Teaching, and was recently honored by his alma mater (University of Minnesota-Duluth) when he was inducted into the Society of Prometheans.
You can follow the Gustavus Wind Orchestra during its international concert tour on the Gustavus Ensemble Touring Blog at touring.blog.gustavus.edu.
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Media Contact: Director of Media Relations and Internal Communication Luc Hatlestad
luch@gustavus.edu
507-933-7510