The St. David’s Day hymn sing and related events scheduled for Friday, March 2, have been postponed due to weather. The celebration has been tentatively rescheduled for Friday, March 9.
The 34th annual St. David’s Day celebration at Gustavus Adolphus College will be held Friday, March 2. Honoring the Patron Saint of Wales, the event will begin with a 20-minute hymn sing at 10 a.m. in the cathedral-like Christ Chapel.
Four hymns from the National Gymanfa Ganu (Welsh Association) official hymnal will be sung under the direction of two of the college’s choral directors — Greg Aune and Patricia Kazarow. Led by a mass choir of more than 200 Gustavus students, the congregation of several hundred people from campus and across Minnesota will sing Morte Criste (When I Survey The Wondrous Cross), My Redeemer (I Will Tell The Wondrous Story), Mawlgan (Let Us Praise The Lord Triumphant), and Cwm Rhondda (Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah). The final dramatic hymn will be accompanied by full organ and the Chapel Brass.
The celebration will continue with a 10:30 a.m. “Welsh Cakes etc.” reception in Alumni Hall, located in O.J. Johnson Student Union. At 11 a.m. Mark Bjelland, chair of the college’s geography department, will present the talk “Wales 2007” in Alumni Hall. During the 2004-05 academic year, Bjelland lived in Cardiff, Wales, while he was a Fulbright Scholar. He will present an overview of the country.
The final event of the 2007 St. David’s observance will be a “Welsh Luncheon” in the college’s Dining Center. The menu will include leek soup, roast lamb with mint jelly, and mixed berry treifel. The cost for the luncheon and the reception is $14.25. Reservations should be made with the Office of College Relations, Gustavus Adolphus College, 800 W. College Ave., St. Peter, MN 56082-1498. For more information, call 507-933-7520 or e-mail collegerelations@gustavus.edu. Payment should be made payable to Gustavus Adolphus College. The reservations deadline is Monday, Feb. 26.
This unique event was founded and continues to be coordinated by Ellis Jones, emeritus professor of economics and management at Gustavus and a past executive director for the Welsh National Gymanfa Ganu Association.
Welsh people around the world observe St. David’s Day on or near March 1. Characteristic of the Welsh celebrations is singing hymns in parts (called a Gymanfa Ganu and pronounced Guh-mahn-vuh Gah-nee). The Gustavus hymn sing includes many off-campus guests in addition to the on-campus community, so the event has become the largest event of its kind in Canada and the United States.
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