Augustana Choir Performs

Augustana College offers the following event description:

The Augustana Choir will give a public concert as part of the choir's Homeland Tour, a series of eight performances from Feb. 18-25.

The Augustana Choir is the premier vocal ensemble at Augustana College of Rock Island, Ill. Founded in 1931, the choir has established a tradition of excellence in performance of a cappella choral literature. The choir gives over twenty concerts a year, including past performances at Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall in New York, and The Ordway Theatre and Orchestra Hall in the Twin Cities.

In honor of the 150th anniversary of Augustana College, the Homeland Tour takes the choir along the Mississippi and across the state of Illinois to recognize the college's relationship with its geographic home. Featured American composers are Eric William Barnum, Eric Whitacre, Morten Lauridsen, Stephen Paulus and Robert H. Young. The program also includes works by renowned 20th century international composers Damijan Mocnik, Krzysztof Penderecki and Carl Orff. This rich, eclectic program incorporates works that elicit the idea of community and home.

In addition, the tour program reflects some of the recent performance invitations the choir has received. Selections from Orff's Carmina Burana appear on the program because the Augustana Choir, under Dr. Jon Hurty's direction, has been asked to perform the work at New York's Carnegie Hall this May. Spirituals by composer/arranger Stacey Gibbs close the program. Gibbs asked the choir to record the selections on an upcoming CD of his works.

Touring often is a highlight of a student's college experience. "Tour has been my favorite part of my four years at college," said senior Ryan Shershen. "I have loved the traveling that we have done everywhere from Sweden to our nation's capitol."

The choir will begin its Homeland Tour in Galesburg, Ill., and then travel to Springfield, Ill.; Chesterfield, Mo.; Decatur, Ill.; Bloomington, Ill.; Naperville, Ill.; St. Charles, Ill.; Rockford, Ill. The tour ends with a ninth "home" concert on March 11 in Davenport, Iowa, for the Quad-City community.

About Augustana: Founded in 1860 and situated on a 115-acre campus near the Mississippi River, Augustana College is a private, liberal arts institution affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The college enrolls 2,500 students from diverse geographic, social, ethnic and religious backgrounds and offers more than 70 majors and related areas of study. Augustana employs 287 faculty members and has a student-faculty ratio of 11:1. Augustana continues to do what it has always done: challenge and prepare students for lives of leadership and service in our complex, ever-changing world.