Wind Orchestra Preparing for Midwest Tour

The Gustavus Adolphus College Wind Orchestra, conducted by Douglas Nimmo, is currently preparing to embark on an eight-day tour from Jan. 29 to Feb. 5 that will take it to cities in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

The ensemble will kick-off the tour with a performance at the Tornstrom Auditorium in Brainerd, Minn., on Saturday, Jan. 29. After performing seven concerts on the tour, the orchestra will return to St. Peter to perform its home concert at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 12 in Christ Chapel.

The entire concert schedule is as follows: 

• Saturday, Jan. 29 / Tornstrom Auditorium / Brainerd, Minn. / 7 p.m.
• Sunday, Jan. 30 / Central high School Auditorium / Duluth, Minn. / 3 p.m.
• Monday, Jan. 31 / Wausau East High School / Wausau, Wis. / 7 p.m.
• Tuesday, Feb. 1 / Lawrence University Memorial Chapel / Appleton, Wis. / 8 p.m.
• Thursday, Feb. 3 / Schauer Arts & Activities Center / Hartford, Wis. / 7 p.m.
• Friday, Feb. 4 / St. Luke’s Lutheran Church / Middleton, Wis. / 7 p.m.
• Saturday, Feb. 5 / St. John Lutheran Church / Owatonna, Minn. / 7 p.m.
• Saturday, Feb. 12 / Home Concert at Christ Chapel / St. Peter, Minn. / 2 p.m.

The Gustavus Wind Orchestra descends directly from the 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 more than 130 years ago, the wind orchestra has grown to earn international acclaim through its concerts and tours.

The ensemble has toured extensively in the United States and Canada as well as parts of 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 1994, the ensemble returned to east-central Europe to perform for standing-room-only audiences in Poland, the Czech and Slovak republics, Hungary, Austria, and Germany. The ensemble returned to the area more recently including in 2006 and 2010.

The Gustavus Wind Orchestra’s history includes work with a number of noted composers, including Percy Grainger, David Holsinger, and more recently Steve Heitzeg, who is an alumnus of the Gustavus Band.