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75th

AnniversAry Tour1937 2012

Front Cover: 1959 Wartburg Choir performs at the Roskilde Cathedral in Roskilde, Denmark

Inside Cover: 2011 Wartburg Choir rehearses at the Roskilde Cathedral

The Wartburg Choir’s 75th anniversary occurs during a year when “Telling Our Story” is the

campus-wide theme at Wartburg College. We are excited to share the Wartburg Choir’s story

with each of you today as we celebrate the group’s rich history. When Dr. Edwin Liemohn

founded the Wartburg Choir, his guiding principles were to foster musical excellence,

establish an unwavering work ethic, and create transformative concert experiences for

performers and audience members alike. Now, 74 years later, the choir remains true to its

roots and works daily to expand upon this legacy.

My goal in choosing this year’s tour repertoire was twofold: (1) I wanted to highlight some

of the most beloved Wartburg Choir pieces to help “tell our story.” (2) I wanted to continue

exposing students to a vast array of music that not only challenges their musical skills but

also makes them examine themselves, their lives, and the world in which they live.

The first goal is easily spotted within the first and fifth sets of music, where you will find

such Wartburg Choir staples as Liemohn’s joyous setting of A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,

Fritschel’s reverent Qui Sedes and In Thy Hand, as well as beloved traditional songs,

including Elijah Rock, Hark I Hear the Harps Eternal, and Give Me Jesus.

The second goal is evident in the diverse repertoire of the second, third, and fourth sets.

You will hear a piece that incorporates overtone singing, a piece sung in Haitian Creole,

and a world premiere composition commissioned in celebration of the choir’s anniversary.

Excerpts from To Be Certain of the Dawn by Stephen Paulus and Michael Dennis Browne

represent one of the choir’s most poignant musical experiences of the year. This Holocaust

oratorio, commissioned in 2005 by the Basilica of Saint Mary in Minneapolis, was a gift to

Temple Israel Synagogue. It commemorates the 60th anniversary of the 1945 liberation of

Nazi death camps and the 40th anniversary of the Vatican document "Nostra Aetate." The

project evolved over four years—beginning with the idea of Fr. Michael O’Connell, then

rector of the Basilica. His desire was to create a work that encourages interfaith dialogue

and empowers all people to dedicate themselves to extinguishing hatred, bigotry, racism,

and religious persecution throughout the world. This work has deeply impacted each

member of the choir, and we are excited to present excerpts for you today.

All Wartburg Choir alumni can tell stories of how their choir experience shaped and

affected their lives. Their experiences create a rich testimony of the choir’s ongoing purpose

and passion over the past 75 years. It is a story of dedicated faith and learning, told by

scores of choir members who have truly learned what it means to be a servant leader. We

are excited to share our story with you today.

Soli Deo Gloria – To God alone the glory.

Dr. Lee Nelson

Telling our Story

1

The year 2012 marks the 75th year since the founding of The Wartburg Choir under Dr. Edwin Liemohn. Selecting 1937, the year of Liemohn’s arrival at Wartburg College, as the founding year is somewhat arbitrary. There have always been music organizations, including choral groups, at Wartburg College and its predecessors. George Grossmann, who founded Wartburg, was a musician. As early as the 1920s there was an a cappella touring choir at Waverly. But before 1937, choirs at Wartburg College were modest singing groups. Their tour concerts rarely extended much beyond the near neighborhood. Hence, we begin the history of “The Wartburg Choir” with Liemohn.

atCartburgthe

hoir 75

There were, in the midst of scores of

German Lutheran congregations planted

by the German Lutheran Iowa Synod

in a wide swath between Ohio and

Colorado, a collection of schools intended

for the training of pastors and parish

schoolteachers. By 1935, in the depths of

the Great American Depression, only two

continued — Wartburg College in Waverly,

Iowa, and Wartburg Theological Seminary

in Dubuque.

Because Wartburg College’s very

survival was in question for the first

decade after its consolidation in Waverly,

it seems a small miracle that a credible

mixed-voice a cappella choir could

emerge and thrive in its midst. It was from

extremely inauspicious beginnings that

what became today’s Wartburg College

Choir, highly acclaimed and widely

traveled, had its beginning.

Due to the fact that the college, in 1935,

had but meager financial resources, faculty

members were expected to multi-task. The

music instructor given the assignment of

organizing and directing a mixed

a cappella choir, Dr. Ernst Heist, was less

than enthusiastic about the assignment.

He more preferred to teach piano. That

may explain why, during his second

and final season as choir director, Heist

abandoned the ensemble in mid-tour,

handed the baton to a student director, and

returned to Waverly to attend to what he

thought was more important business.

Concerned for the choir’s future, the

college administration lured to campus

a promising young musician, Dr. Edwin

Liemohn. With solid music credentials

— he secured degrees from the McPhail

School of Music and the Eastman School

of Music, among others — Liemohn

infused in the fledgling a cappella group a

love of Scandinavian choral literature. Of

Norwegian Lutheran parentage, he brought

to the ensemble, which he renamed “The

Wartburg Choir” in 1937, an appreciation

for the compositions of his mentor,

St. Olaf Choir founder and director F.

Melius Christenson.

Keenly aware of Wartburg’s German

Lutheran heritage, Liemohn created

his own arrangement of Martin Luther’s

signature Reformation hymn, A Mighty

Fortress Is Our God. After 75 seasons,

the Wartburg Choir continues to sing

Left: The 1938-39 Wartburg

Choir performs at St. Paul’s

Lutheran Church in Waverly.

Right: Dr. Edwin Liemohn

directed the Wartburg Choir

from 1937 to 1968.

this powerful and stirring composition at

concerts.

One-time choir president, the Rev.

Edgar Zelle, remembers the formative

period of the organization. “It is hard to

imagine the early years. [As late as] 1945,

there were fewer than 200 students at

Wartburg College. From this limited pool

of students, Dr. Liemohn developed an

outstanding choir.”

Liemohn recruited around 60 singers

annually. This means that nearly one-

third of the student body made up the

Wartburg Choir in its first years. How

was it possible? Another choir alumnus,

and later director, Dr. James Fritschel,

offers an answer. “High school students

in the upper Midwest tended to have

3

good grounding in music. Many were

from German Lutheran congregations,

where singing was important. When they

came to a school like Wartburg, they

had the discipline, and the readiness,

to participate in a choir singing serious

sacred music.”

Liemohn quickly experienced the

same dilemma faced by the director of

any Lutheran college or university choir.

There were too many candidates for too

few openings. Even in the late 1930s, the

college newspaper, The Trumpet, reports

there were sometimes 150 applicants

for 60 places in the choir. For Liemohn

and the ensemble it was a good problem,

because it guaranteed that the very best

singers would make the final cut.

Following the pattern begun by Heist,

Liemohn took his singers on annual

tours. These annual trips resulted in

concerts in Lutheran venues throughout

the Midwest. These events offered

unmatched opportunities for the choir to

give the college a favorable public face in

congregations whose members supported

Wartburg. It is impossible to determine

how many high school students during the

past 75 years later enrolled at the college

because they heard a tour concert and fell

in love with the choir and, by extension,

the college.

As early as 1946 tour concerts were

garnering rave reviews. Said the music

critic for the Duluth, Minnesota, News-

Tribune, “[This choir demonstrates]

freshness and fluency of singing, skill in

dynamics, polyphonic dexterity, rhythmic

precision [and] perfect unanimity in every

attack and turn of phrase.”

Liemohn found other ways to give the

choir a public face. Already in the 1940s

there were radio broadcasts, originating

from the college campus, featuring the

choir — along with other music groups

and, on occasion, speakers and lectures.

During the choir’s 1938 tour, a trip that

took the choir through Illinois, the singers

were featured for an hour on radio station

WLS in Chicago. Broadcast after dark,

the clear-channel 50,000-watt signal

carried the program all over the country.

Letters flowed in, all of which were

forwarded to Liemohn. They praised the

sound of the choir. Some former choir

members who heard the broadcast were

downright giddy with excitement after

having heard the musicians from their

alma mater on a major radio outlet.

The choir was earning a growing

reputation through its annual tours. In the

midst of growing acclaim, there were the

inevitable unexpected challenges. During

a journey that took the singers across the

Canadian prairies, one of the two tour

buses broke down on the highway. Only

half the singers arrived in time for the

concert.

Dr. Liemohn’s daughter, Muriel,

was one of the vocalists who made it

to the intended destination. She said,

“Fortunately, there was a good mix of all

four parts on that single bus. So, even

though my father was left behind, we were

able to put on a credible concert, under

the direction of a student conductor.

The audience seemed to love what they

heard, even though we were only at half

strength.”

Liemohn clearly loved touring stateside.

But he soon set his sights on wider vistas.

He wanted to take the choir across the

Atlantic. After a decade of planning, he

got his opportunity.

In late spring of 1959, the choir

traveled to Europe and sang concerts

in a half-dozen countries. Unlike later

overseas trips, planned and executed by

a tour manager, Liemohn made all the

contacts for this first European adventure

himself. The tour was a triumph for the

singers and their director. Newspaper

reviews in Germany, Denmark, Holland,

and England offered effusive reviews.

Among other things, the Europeans

seemed surprised and delighted to

Right: Dr. Edwin Liemohn

rehearses the Wartburg

Choir in the early 1960s.

experience a concert in which the singers

had memorized all the music.

One of the pieces Liemohn’s vocalists

offered, a motet by Heinrich Schütz,

was written for two choirs, the second

echoing the first. In Denmark’s Roskilde

Cathedral, the echo choir sang from

the balcony. The local newspaper’s

music critic, who knew the building’s

tricky acoustics, enthused that what

he considered to have been a risky

undertaking turned out to be an

unqualified success. Such an effort was,

he suggested, “only [to] be carried out

by a choir of such high standard as the

Wartburg Choir.”

The reviewer in Fürth, Germany, was

equally taken with the singers. “If the

concert had not been given in a church

but in a concert hall, and if the numbers

had not been exclusively sacred, the

conductor and the choir would have been

rewarded with a hurricane of applause.”

Responses such as these, from

audiences used to hearing and critiquing

high-quality sacred music, constituted

high praise indeed.

Six years later the choir returned to

Europe. By this time, one of Liemohn’s

star pupils and former Wartburg

Choir member, James Fritschel, had

graduated, pursued advanced study

in music, and returned to join the

music faculty. Liemohn structured the

repertoire for the second overseas tour

in an unconventional fashion, a clear

indication that the director was grooming

his successor. There were three sets in

the performance, with two intermissions.

Liemohn conducted the first group,

Fritschel the second section, and

Liemohn the final portion.

European audiences found the two-

conductor approach interesting, and

critics seemed to like the innovation.

The reviewer for the Graz, Austria,

Kleine Zeitung wrote, “The three-part

program, the middle section directed by

Dr. James Fritschel, reached a high-point

in performance.” There was another

curiosity that seemed to mesmerize music

critics and concertgoers. Liemohn had

worked out a complicated system for

moving his singers, between numbers,

so that entire sections of the choir could

be relocated within seconds, and then

the ranks closed seamlessly. Some choir

members, somewhat whimsically, took to

calling this device “the Liemohn shift.”

At the close of the 1968 academic

year, Edwin Liemohn conducted his final

concert — number 666! He then handed

the baton off to Fritschel and retired,

moving to another Lutheran college town,

Northfield, Minnesota. For the choir it

was the end of a long and, in many ways,

glorious chapter.

Fritschel put his own stamp on the

choir. The familiar black and white silk

Above: Dr. James

Fritschel rehearses

with two of his

vocalists.

Below Left: Fritschel

directed the choir

from 1968 to 1984.

5

choir robes from the Liemohn era were retired in

1971. The singers began appearing at concerts

wearing formal gowns and tuxedos.

In 1963 the college’s music department began

hosting Meistersinger Festivals, drawing choristers

from area high schools to campus. It gave the new

director an opportunity to showcase the choir. At

such events the choir performed with the New

York Pro Musica and Gregg Smith Singers, among

others.

The singers sponsored a Christmas Carol Buffet

as an “appetizer” for the annual Christmas with

Wartburg concert, which

followed. On several

occasions the choir

hosted a Kaffee Klatsch

Konzert at St. Paul’s

Lutheran Church in

Waverly, during which

the singers sat among the

diners, serenading them

at their tables.

The college had begun

an annual Christmas

concert decades earlier.

By the Fritschel years,

the Wartburg Choir

was an integral part of

Christmas at Wartburg.

The festival was renamed

Christmas with Wartburg

when the event added concerts in nearby Cedar

Falls and the state’s capital, Des Moines. In

recent years, the annual celebration of Advent

and Christmas, usually presented before sellout

audiences, has been broadcast statewide over

Iowa Public Television and other public television

stations.

When Fritschel’s singers toured Europe in

1974, a new activity — one destined to become

an overseas tour tradition — was included. The

choir visited the college’s namesake, Wartburg

Castle. Because the Iron Curtain was still in place,

there was no vocalizing inside the structure, but

graduating seniors touring with the choir received

their diplomas in the shadow of the famous fortress.

Perhaps the pinnacle of the choir’s success

during the Fritschel years consisted of two visits to

Cork, Ireland. The singers were invited to sing at

the International Choral and Folk Dance Festival.

They placed fourth in 1976, while a chamber choir

consisting of some of their members ranked second

in the Madrigal competition that year. It was the

first time an American choir had placed in the

competition at Cork.

Things took a spectacular turn four years later.

Returning to Ireland in 1980, the chamber choir

again took second prize, while the Wartburg Choir

became the first American choral group to win

first-place recognition among mixed choirs of 30

voices or more. Fritschel proudly displayed the

silver trophy when stepping off the bus as the

Right: 1993 Wartburg

Choir performs at

Carnegie Hall.

Below: 1969-70

Wartburg Choir

gathers for a photo

before leaving on their

European tour.

choir returned to Waverly. With the trophy

came a cash prize of 200 Irish pounds (around

$450). As late as the year 2000, no other North

American choir had won a first prize at Cork.

During the Fritschel years, an annual choir

retreat was instituted. The first was held at

the Lutheran church camp, EWALU, near

Strawberry Point, Iowa. It gave members of the

choir an opportunity to bond with one another,

and for newcomers to learn and embrace —

and for returning singers to reaffirm — choir

traditions.

A prolific composer, Fritschel left a lasting mark

on choir and college traditions with a disarmingly

simple composition. Taking the text of a four-line

poem, penned years earlier by college English

professor (and American Lutheran Church poet

laureate) Gustav J. Neumann, the composer set

words to music of his own creation. For years,

In Thy Hand was offered as a benediction at

Homecoming and Baccalaureate services.

One of the vocalists in the Wartburg Choir

during the Fritschel years was a music major from

Elmore, Minnesota. Paul Torkelson graduated from

Wartburg, later earned a doctorate, and returned to

campus in 1984 to succeed Fritschel.

Until his retirement, Fritschel directed the

touring choir at California Lutheran University in

Thousand Oaks, California.

Under Torkelson the Wartburg Choir achieved

even greater stature. As part of the college’s

long-running, highly acclaimed Artist Series,

the singers performed the ambitious and

difficult Mass in B Minor by Johann Sebastian

Bach.

In 1994 the college dedicated a worship

center, Wartburg Chapel. Acoustically

superior to cavernous Neumann Auditorium,

it quickly became the Wartburg Choir’s venue

for home concerts. But the new chapel could

accommodate far fewer people than Neumann

Auditorium, where the choir had previously sung.

Some complained that the 500-seat facility was

too small for concerts by a singing group with the

reputation of the Wartburg Choir. Others simply

learned to arrive early for performances, in order to

assure themselves seats.

Torkelson led the choir into prestigious new

performing venues. During May Term of 1985, his

musicians sang at Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln

Center, New York City. The choir performed for

the American Choral Directors Association in San

Antonio, Texas.

A 2004 performance at the Kennedy Center

in Washington, D.C., caused staff writer Cecelia

Porter to headline her review in the Washington

Post, “Wartburg Choir, a mighty fortress of skill.”

She wrote, “[This choir] is trained with rock-solid

discipline.”

When the choir performed at Carnegie

Hall in New York City, Torkelson received

an unexpected telegram just before the

performance. Weston Noble, then-director

of the Luther College Nordic Choir and

the dean of Lutheran choir conductors,

sent a congratulatory message. The

essence was that the Wartburg Choir was

singing on that night for all of the nation’s

Lutheran college choirs. Wrote Noble,

“You make us proud.”

In advance of the Carnegie concert, the

Des Moines Register told its readers, “The

Wartburg College Choir is heading for

the Big Apple. The production company

setting up the [concert] originally

asked choir director Paul Torkelson

to form a 200-voice group to perform,

7

Above: Dr. Paul

Torkelson directed the

Warburg Choir from

1984 to 2009.

Below: In 1995 the

Warburg Choir made

its first appearance in

the Great Hall of the

Wartburg Castle in

Eisenach, Germany.

The choir is the only

American group with a

standing invitation to

perform at the castle.

but he suggested his 78-member choir

instead.” As it turned out, the sound

from Torkelson’s ensemble was powerful

enough to make the producers wonder

why they wanted more voices in the first

place.

Dr. Maynard Anderson, a member of

the college music faculty during those

years, observed that, unlike Liemohn and

Fritschel before him, “Torkelson wanted

a really big sound, and so he developed

large choirs.” There was a second

reason. The college’s music department

had grown in size and reputation. By

his own admission, Torkelson needed

opportunities for more student vocalists

to sing while on campus. In addition

to expanding the choir’s numbers —

sometimes to as many at 84 voices —

the director championed more singing

venues. The result was the development

of a multi-choir environment at Wartburg.

In addition to the Wartburg Choir, music

majors and other vocalists could audition

for the mixed-voice Castle Singers, the

Ritterchor mens chorus, the women’s

Saint Elizabeth Chorale, the Chapel

Choir, the Gospel Choir and, in recent

years, the all-male Festeburg octet.

With the end of the Cold War and the

reunification of Germany, the choir found

it possible in the year 1995 to return

to Eisenach, the home of the Wartburg

Castle, and this time sing inside the Great

Hall. The Wartburg Choir is currently

the only U.S. Lutheran college choir with

a standing invitation for concerts at the

castle.

Two years later, the college and the

music department scored something of

a coup. World-renowned opera singer

Simon Estes came to campus for a

concert. Afterwards, then-president

Jack Ohle hosted him at Greenwood,

the president’s residence. While there,

Ohle invited Estes to join the college’s

music faculty. Within days, Estes agreed.

While voice students on campus benefit

Right: Dr. Lee Nelson

became conductor of the

Wartburg Choir in 2009.

Below: As artistic director,

Dr. Nelson's vision for

Christmas with Wartburg

has begun to take shape

musically and visually.

from his coaching, so does the choir. Each school

year Estes sings at Wartburg College concerts

and occasionally tours with the singers. He was

instrumental in arranging for a choir tour visit to

South Africa, where he operates a school for young

scholars.

In 2008 Torkelson accepted an opportunity to

work short-term with a music placement agency in

New York City. During his sabbatical, the college

hired recently-retired Luther College Nordic Choir

director Weston Noble to direct the Wartburg Choir.

When it became clear that Torkelson had decided

to retire from Wartburg at the end of his sabbatical

— today he directs choirs at the University of

Nevada at Reno — a search for his

permanent replacement began.

Dr. Lee Nelson, a graduate of

Concordia College in Moorhead,

Minnesota, and previously director

of choral music at St. Cloud State

University, assumed leadership of the

choir in the fall of 2009. The following

year he took the choir to Europe,

recreating the itinerary of Liemohn’s first

overseas tour in 1959.

In fall 2011, the choir received an

unexpected invitation to sing at the

White House in Washington, D.C.

Nelson led his singers in a program of

Advent and Christmas music, both at the executive

mansion and at the Washington National Cathedral.

The Wartburg Choir has evolved from a marginal

singing group on the campus of a tiny Lutheran

college on life-support into one of the premier

academic mixed-voice a cappella ensembles in the

country. Today the choir auditions from the ranks

of 1,800 students at a robust church-related private

college whose thriving music program draws

students from across the country. If the past is

prologue, the Wartburg College Choir is on the cusp

of still greater triumphs in decades yet to come.

— Michael L. Sherer, Wartburg Choir, 1962-63

Left: The Wartburg

Choir poses for

a photo in the

residence of the

White House. The

choir performed

Christmas carols

and sacred music

for families of fallen

soldiers.

The Wartburg Choir

performs during the

Bethlehem Prayer

Service at the

National Cathedral

in Washington, D.C.

I.

A Mighty Fortress Is Our God *Edwin Liemohn (1903-1972)

Lobet den Herrn, alle Heiden, BWV 230 Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

II.

Tonight, Eternity Alone René Clausen (b. 1953)

Past Life Melodies Sarah Hopkins (b. 1958)

III.

Estampie Natalis Vaclav Nelhybel (1919-1996)

Noèl Ayisyen (A Haitian Noël) Emile Desamours (b. 1941)

†When Jordan Hushed His Waters Still Stanford E. Scriven (b. 1988)

Excerpt from An Apostrophe to Healey Willan (1880-1968) the Heavenly Hosts

Intermission

PROGRAM

The internationally acclaimed Wartburg Choir performs

sacred music from all historical periods and styles and often

premieres new works of contemporary composers. Called

a “mighty fortress of skill” by the Washington Post, the

Wartburg Choir is one of three college musical ensembles

that tour internationally on a triennial basis. Beyond tours,

the choir receives invitations for special appearances in the

United States and abroad, most recently to participate in

the December 2011 White House Holiday Concert Series.

As part of that trip to Washington, D.C., the choir also sang

at the National Cathedral’s Bethlehem Prayer Service, which

was simulcast worldwide. In 2006, the choir performed with

THE WARTBURG CHOIR the Czech National Symphony Orchestra in Prague at the

invitation of Maestro Paul Freeman, CNSO music director and

chief conductor, who had attended a Wartburg Choir concert

at Orchestra Hall in Chicago.

During the past 20 years, the choir has appeared in

such prestigious concert halls as the Kennedy Center in

Washington, D.C.; Avery Fisher Hall of Lincoln Center, New

York City; Carnegie Hall in New York City; Symphony Hall

in Chicago; and Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis. The choir

competed in the International Trophy Competition in Cork,

Ireland on two separate occasions and is the only American

choral group to win first-place honors. The Wartburg

IV. Excerpts from To Be Certain of the Dawn Stephen Paulus (b. 1949) Michael Dennis Browne (b. 1940) Dr. Brian Pfaltzgraff, tenor

Sh'ma Y'israel! Teshuvah (Returning)First BlessingKingdom of NightDu sollst deinen Nächsten lieben wie dich selbst Boy ReadingHymn to the Eternal FlameV'a Havta Le Reacha Kamocha

V.

To be chosen from the following: Qui Sedes **James Fritschel (b. 1930) In Thy Hand James Fritschel Psalm 50 arr. F. Melius Christiansen (1871-1955) Beautiful Savior arr. F. Melius Christiansen Way Over in Beulah Lan’ arr. Stacey Gibbs Elijah Rock arr. Moses Hogan (1957-2003) Hark, I Hear the Harps Eternal arr. Alice Parker (b. 1925) Give Me Jesus arr. Larry L. Fleming (1936-2003)

† Commissioned by The Wartburg Choir in honor of its 75th Anniversary – World Premiere

* Founder and conductor of the Wartburg Choir – 1937-1968

**Conductor of the Wartburg Choir – 1968-1984

Choir has been invited to perform at two national and two

divisional conventions of the American Choral Directors

Association. In 2012, the choir was featured at the North

Central ACDA convention spotlight concert, singing Stephen

Paulus’ Holocaust oratorio, To Be Certain of the Dawn.

For 75 years, the Wartburg Choir has toured annually

throughout the United States and the District of Columbia.

Beginning in 1959, the choir has toured internationally every

three to four years, performing in a total of 21 European

countries, three Canadian provinces, Scandinavia, and South

Africa. The choir frequently performs with Simon Estes, a

world-renowned opera star who also serves as distinguished

professor and artist-in-residence at Wartburg College. Estes

joined the choir on two international tours to South Africa,

which included performances at the Simon Estes Music High

School in Cape Town. Most recently, he joined the choir in

a concert with special guest Madame Denyce Graves, an

internationally recognized mezzo soprano and opera star.

Founded in 1937 under the direction of Dr. Edwin

Liemohn, the choir became one of the first American college

choral groups to tour Europe. Liemohn’s successor, Dr. James

Fritschel, directed the choir from 1968 to 1984, expanding its

reputation for excellence and international exposure. Dr. Paul

Torkelson, director from 1984 to 2009, conducted the choir

at nearly every major concert hall in the United States and led

the group on numerous international tours. Dr. Lee Nelson,

who became the Wartburg Choir’s fourth conductor in 2009,

continues to build upon the choir’s 75-year tradition of choral

excellence.

11

Lobet den Herrn, alle Heiden, BWV 230 Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

SUNG IN GERMAN

Praise the Lord, all you nations,and praise Him, all you people.For His grace and truthReign over us forevermore.Alleluia!

-- Psalm 117: 1, 2a, with alleluia

Tonight, Eternity Alone René Clausen (b. 1953)

Tonight eternity alone is near: The sunset and the darkening blue;There is no space for fear,Only the wonder of its truth.

-- paraphrased from Dusk at Sea, Thomas S. Jones, Jr.

Estampie Natalis Vaclav Nelhybel (1919-1996) SUNG IN LATIN A boy is born in Bethlehem, alleluia! Rejoice Jerusalem, alleluia! In joy of heart let us adore the newborn Christ with a new song.

The Son has assumed flesh, alleluia! The Father most high, alleluia! In joy of heart let us adore the newborn Christ with a new song.

From Gabriel’s greeting, alleluia, the virgin conceived a Son, alleluia! In joy of heart let us adore the newborn Christ with a new song.

He lies in the manger, alleluia! He who rules without end, alleluia! In joy of heart let us adore the newborn Christ with a new song.

Let us bless the Lord, alleluia, in joy of this birth, alleluia! The Holy Spirit be praised, alleluia! Give thanks unto God, alleluia!

selected texts translationsand{ }Noèl Ayisyen (A Haitian Noël) Emile Desamours (b. 1941)

SUNG IN HAITIAN CREOLE

It was in Bethlehem, a little corner of Judea,that Mary had a baby boy at midnight in a stable.He was the Son of God and he was the King of Kings.Since I was a little child I have known this story.

There were three wise kings who followed a great starwith gifts in their hands to come worship the child.And they were quite amazed when they saw little Jesuslying between a cow and a donkey.

Hear that, my friends! Noel is a strange story indeed!Jesus, Son of God, King of Kings, doesn’t even have a cradle.He sleeps on the straw among animals…Oh my!

They called Him Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God; the Everlasting Father, too; and He was the Prince of Peace.Both shepherds and wisemen bowed down to worship Him.They gave Him gifts according to what they had.

Back then, if we would have been there (ta-ma-na),we would have done something fitting (ta-ma-na),we would have offered Him music (ba-dap-peem)of the best Haitian kind (chee-kee-chee).We would have brought drums, manniboulas, vaccins, maracas;with fine banjo strums we would have charmed little Jesus.

Jesus, Jesus, our little Jesus, we love you greatly.You bring peace to all people and you offer us grace.

Noel, Noel, Noel, long live Noel!

When Jordan Hushed His Waters Still Stanford E. Scriven (b. 1988)

When Jordan hushed his waters still,and silence slept on Zion’s hill,when Bethlehem’s shepherds through the night,watched over their flocks by starry light.

Hark! From the midnight hills around,a voice of more than mortal soundin distant hallelujahs stole,wild murmuring over the raptured soul.

On wheels of light, on wings of flame,the glorious hosts of Zion came;high Heaven with songs of triumph rung,while thus they struck their harps and sung!

O Zion, lift Thy raptured eye;the long expected hour is nigh;the joys of nature rise again;the Prince of Salem comes to reign.

He comes to cheer the trembling heart;bids darkness and His host depart;again the daystar gilds the gloom,again the bowers of Eden bloom. --Thomas Campbell (1777-1844)

Excerpt from An Apostrophe to the Heavenly HostsHealey Willan (1880-1968)

Ye watchers and ye holy ones,bright Seraphs, Cherubims and Thrones,raise the glad strain – Alleluia!Cry out Dominions, Princedoms, Powers,Virtues, Archangels, Angels’ choirs,Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia! --Athelstan Riley (1858-1945)

Qui SedesJames Fritschel (b.1930)

SUNG IN LATIN

Lord, You who are seated above the cherubim,stir up Your power and come down.

Wartburg Music Summer CampsMeistersinger All-State Choir CampsAug. 1-3, 4-6, 2012

Directed by Dr. Lee Nelson, director of choral activities

and associate professor of music, this camp introduces

high school vocalists and music teachers to music for the

Iowa All-State vocal auditions. Individual vocal lessons

and group vocal classes are available for an additional

fee. Information will be sent out via email this year.

Individuals who have not received information may

send a request to allstatecamp@wartburg.edu or

call 319-269-4974.

Band CampJuly 15-21, 2012

Directed by Dr. Craig A. Hancock, director of bands and

associate professor of music, this camp is open to high

school students. Daily sessions include music theory,

beginning conducting, jazz improvisation, composition,

and instrument repair. Call 319-352-8296 for

more information.

Eastern Iowa Clarinet Camp

This camp features Dr. Eric Wachmann, Wartburg

College clarinet professor; Dr. Michael Chesher, Luther

College clarinet professor; and Myron Mikita, Jr., camp

coordinator. For more information, contact Dr. Eric

Wachmann at 319-352-8508 or

eric.wachmann@wartburg.edu.texts and translations

continued on page 1613

Christmas with Wartburg 2011Mural designed by Chris Knudson '01.

Excerpts from To Be Certain of the DawnMusic by Stephen Paulus (b. 1949) Text by Michael Dennis Browne (b. 1940)

Sh'ma Y'israel!SUNG IN GERMAN AND HEBREW

Hear, O Israel: Adonai our God, Adonai is One. Blessed is the name of God’s glorious reign forever and ever.

Teshuvah (Returning)Create a great emptiness in me. Send a wind. Lay bare the branches. Strip me of usual song.Drop me like a stone, send me down unknown paths, send me into pathlessness; drop me like a stone so that I go where a stone goes.Send me down unknown paths, send me into pathlessness, into the lost places, down into echoesto where I hear voices, but no words: a place of weeping below any of earth’s waters.Teshuvah, Teshuvah, Teshuvah.Give me difficult dreams where my skills will not serve me; make bitter the wines I have stored.Begin the returning. Teshuvah, Teshuvah, Teshuvah.

First BlessingAdonai! Adonai, Adonai, Adonai, Adonai!Who gives us our hearts, and as they open, so You fill them.Hope. We thank You for our hope.Adonai, Adonai, who gives us our dreams, and as they blossom, so we praise You.Dreams. We thank You for our dreams.

Kingdom of NightHoly God, Who found no strength in us to be Your power.How should we think ourselves Your hands, Your feet? How should we be Your heart?On the day You called to us, in the kingdom of nightwhere You kept calling, how did we heal one another in Your name? How did we think we might be recognized as You in all we failed to do?

(Cantor: Mourner’s Kaddish)

In the kingdom of night where, again and again,out of the mouths of children, You kept calling, calling.Adonai, Adonai, Adonai.Calling and calling and calling and callingin the kingdom of night. Adonai!

The photographs were taken by Roman Vishniac between the years

1935-1938 in various cities and villages of Eastern Europe. They are

published in the book Children of a Vanished World (University of

California Press, 1999), © Mara Vishniac Kohn.

To Be Certain OF THE Dawn

Du sollst deinen Nächsten lieben wie dich selbstSUNG IN GERMAN AND HEBREW You should love your neighbor as yourself.

Boy ReadingI’m looking down from far away, I’m high up on a branch looking down on the book so many little characters all of them keys says Mamakeys to all the doors I want to open, I want to open them allI like the way the characters aresometimes I think I see looks on their faces (they’re looking at me).

(Chorus: Jews may not imagine. Jews may not dream.)

They’ll take me into the stories where I want to goI had a dream where I grew so heavy I fell out of the tree down, down into the characters and they covered me over and no one could find methey never found me.

And everywhere such wounds.

Wear this star. Wear this star. Wear this star.

Hymn to the Eternal FlameEvery face is in you, every voice,Every sorrow in you, every pity,Every love, every memory, Woven into fire.

Every breath is in you, every cry,Every longing in you, every singing,Every hope, every healing, Woven into fire.

Every heart is in you, every tongue,Every trembling in you, every blessing,Every soul, every shining, Woven into fire.

V'a Havta Le Reacha KamochaSUNG IN HEBREW You should love your neighbor as yourself.

17

Above: Jewish children

in the Theresienstadt

Concentration Camp

(Photograph taken by

unknown Nazi Soldier).

theWARTBURG CHOIR

membersSoprano 1

Danni Bilidt, Austin, Minn. – Communication Arts

Erica Bush, Fulton, Ill. – Business Administration/Accounting

Morgan Dickman, Blue Earth, Minn. – Elementary Education

Elise Duvall, Mason City, Iowa – Music Education

Kate Glenney, Muscatine, Iowa – Religion

Kim Hesse, Sheboygan, Wis. – Music Therapy

Brittany Johnson, Clive, Iowa – Vocal Performance

Kayla Meitner, West Union, Iowa – Business Administration

Andra Peeler, Indianola, Iowa – Music Education/Music Therapy

Leah Podzimek, Cedar Rapids, Iowa – Vocal Performance

Chelsea Reisner, Appleton, Wis. – Flute Performance

Soprano 2

Ali Brown, Cedar Rapids, Iowa – Communication Arts

Emily Bush, Cleghorn, Iowa – Elementary Education

Megan DeBoer, Blooming Prairie, Minn. – Music Education

Katelyn Ewing, Le Mars, Iowa – Music Education

Susannah Gafkjen, Spencer, Iowa – Music Therapy

Sara Hummel, Spirit Lake, Iowa – Biology (Pre-Nursing)

Amelia Kischer-Browne, Waterloo, Iowa – Vocal Performance

Alexandra Madole – Dallas Center, Iowa – Communication Arts (Public Relations)

Beth Moellers, West Union, Iowa – Business Administration

Jessica Nilles, Webster City, Iowa – Piano Performance/Pedagogy

Morgan Phelps, Olympia Fields, Ill. – Applied Music

Daria Zawierucha, Eugene, Ore. – Music Education/Music Therapy

Alto 1

Anne Bomgaars, Sheldon, Iowa – Music Therapy/Vocal Performance

Robin Evans, Davenport, Iowa – Music Education

Alyssa Hanson, Vinton, Iowa – Mathematics

Sadie Kaminski, LeClaire, Iowa – Music Therapy

Megan LeVasseur, Cedar Rapids, Iowa – Elementary Education

Lauren Matysik, Clive, Iowa - English

Brittany Reynolds, Sumner, Iowa – American History Education

Marie Sorenson, Cedar Rapids, Iowa – Vocal Performance

Alexis Spain, Castalia, Iowa – Music Education

Cailee Whitefield, San Antonio, Texas – Music Education/Music Therapy

Sarah Wilkin, Titonka, Iowa – Biology

Sarah Wolf, Indianola, Iowa – Vocal Performance/Music Education

Alto 2

Alyx Coble-Frakes, Swisher, Iowa – Business Administration

Kristina Goemaat, Belmond, Iowa – Music Therapy

Maleah Kelly, New Hope, Minn. – Music Education

Megan Lien, Rockford, Iowa – Applied Music/Business Administration

Alison Nicoll, West Des Moines, Iowa – Social Work

Maya Véronique Pérez, Los Angeles, Calif. – Vocal Performance

Jamie Peterson, McGregor, Iowa – Mathematics Education

Caitlin Retz, Sheffield, Iowa – Music Education/Music Therapy

Claire Traynor, Star Prairie, Wis. – Music Education/Music Therapy

Courtney Westling, Algona, Iowa – Music Education

†

* #

• *

†

†

† **

Tenor 1

Aaron Benson, New Hampton, Iowa – Elementary Education

Schuyler Bieber, Cedar Rapids, Iowa – Music Education

Jeremy Corbett, Cedar Rapids, Iowa – French/Biology

Dan Darnold, Underwood, Iowa – Vocal Performance

Rex Davidson, Johnston, Iowa - Biology

Koby Edler, Fairbank, Iowa – Music Education/Performance

Nick Morrison, Davenport, Iowa – Music Therapy

Cody Osegard, Cushing, Minn. – Computer Science

Kevin Schneider, Elgin, Iowa – Biology/All Science Education

Austin Scholten, Rockton, Iowa – Communication Arts

Austin Siefers, Muscatine, Iowa – Music Education

Tenor 2

Taylor Boeckholt, Milford, Iowa – Elementary Education

Ben Engelken, Manchester, Iowa – Music/Business Administration

Nate Fratzke, Wilton, Iowa – Music Business

Chris McIntyre, Mediapolis, Iowa – Music Education

Aaron Moore, Oak Park, Minn. – Elementary Education

Chad Nelsen, Rock Valley, Iowa – Elementary Education

Jason Neumann, Forest City, Iowa – Social Work

Dylan Nieman, Wilton, Iowa – Applied Music/Computer Information Systems

Reed Pedersen, Jefferson, Iowa – Applied Music

Michael Sauer, Le Mars, Iowa – Music Education

Zakary Steib, Fort Dodge, Iowa – Political Science

Bass 1

Myles Finn, Manchester, Iowa – Exploring

Brett Gregory, Altoona, Iowa – Church Music

Kyle Harms, Independence, Iowa – Music Education

Connor Koppin, Mason City, Iowa – Music Education

Christopher Kurt, Independence, Iowa – Music Education

Jud Lee, Indianola, Iowa – Applied Music

Aaron Schendel, Brooklyn Park, Minn. – Computer Science

Zach Sommers, Des Moines, Iowa – Political Science/International Relations

Joe Strong, Elgin, Iowa – Music Education

Bass 2

Therin Bradshaw, Port Byron, Ill. - Biology

Wes Carlson, Cedar Rapids, Iowa – Elementary Education

Kyle Fleming, Worthington, Minn. – Music Therapy

Eric Fonck, Delhi, Iowa – Political Science

Ryan Harms, Aplington, Iowa – Engineering Science

Crosby King, Northfield, Minn. – Sociology

Joshua Lehman, Plainfield, Iowa – Mathematics Education

Joseph Lorenzen, West Des Moines, Iowa – Music Education

Alex Nicoll, West Des Moines, Iowa – Exploring

Ben Sande, Adel, Iowa – Social Work

Alex Schaefer, McHenry, Ill. – Mathematics

Dr. Karen Black, organ

Christine Kaplunas, violin

Dr. Daniel Kaplunas, violin and viola

Sally Malcolm, viola

Joseph Lorenzen, cello

Chelsea Reisner, flute and piccolo

Jessica Nilles, keyboard and piano

Judson Lee, shofar

Maya Pérez, Michael Sauer, Andra Peeler,

Courtney Westling, Susannah Gafkjen

& Morgan Dickman, percussion

theINSTRUMENTALISTS

19

† – Choir Council • – Choir Accompanist

# – Choir Librarian

* – Section Leader

†

*

*

*

*

Lee Nelson is the Patricia R. Zahn Chair in Choral Conducting

and director of choral activities at Wartburg College in

Waverly, Iowa. Recently honored with the 2012 John O.

Chellevold Award for Excellence in Teaching and Professional

Service, Nelson conducts the Wartburg Choir and Ritterchor

(men’s choir). He also teaches advanced conducting and

applied voice and serves as artistic director of Christmas

with Wartburg.

Nelson made his conducting debut at Carnegie Hall in

2011 and will be returning there to conduct the National

Festival Chorus again in May 2012. His national and

international tours have earned overwhelmingly positive

reviews. On the most recent tour of Hungary, Austria,

Germany, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, critics lauded

Nelson’s innovative programming and the choir’s superior

technique and choral tone. A sought-after conductor, Nelson

has directed All State and honor choirs in Colorado, New York,

Alaska, Mississippi, Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin,

Arizona, Iowa, Nebraska, and Manitoba, Canada.

In December 2011, Nelson and the Wartburg Choir were

invited to perform at the White House Holiday Concert Series.

While in Washington, D.C., the choir also performed at the

Washington National Cathedral for a worldwide simulcast

of the Bethlehem Prayer Service. Most recently, Nelson was

a featured conductor at the 2012 North Central American

Choral Directors Association convention, where he conducted

Stephen Paulus’ Holocaust oratorio To Be Certain of the Dawn

with more than 360 musicians from six states.

Prior to his appointment at Wartburg College, Nelson

served on the faculty at St. Cloud State University, where he

received the SCSU Professional Achievement Award in 2008.

Under his direction, the St. Cloud State Choir was invited to

perform at the 2007 Minnesota American Choral Directors

Association convention and toured throughout the Midwest

and Canada. During a 2008 European tour, the St. Cloud

State University choir premiered To Be Certain of the Dawn at

Natzweil-Struthof, the site of a former concentration camp.

Earlier in his career, Nelson received the Outstanding Young

Choral Conductor of the Year, awarded by the Minnesota

American Choral Directors Association, and won the 2005

National ACDA Conducting Competition in Los Angeles,

Calif.

In addition to his work at Wartburg College, Nelson also

serves as music director and conductor of the Metropolitan

Chorale, a 100-voice community choir based in the Cedar

Valley. Nelson has led the ensemble in performances of

choral/orchestral masterworks by Ludwig van Beethoven,

Wolfgang Mozart, Leonard Bernstein, Felix Mendelssohn,

Johann Sebastian Bach, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Franz

Joseph Hayden, and Carl Orff.

Nelson earned a Bachelor of Music degree in music

education from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn. He

has done graduate work at Westminster Choir College and

is a summa cum laude graduate of the University of Arizona,

where he earned his Master of Music and Doctor of Musical

Arts degrees in choral conducting and music education.

21

Dr. Lee D. Nelson, conductor{ }

Dr. Daniel Kaplunas, violin and viola

Dr. Brian Pfaltzgraff, tenorDr. Brian Pfaltzgraff is an assistant professor of

voice at Wartburg College. He has performed

more than 30 leading operatic roles and an

even wider range of concert works. He appears

regularly with Union Avenue Opera in St. Louis

and has also performed with Opera Theatre of

St. Louis, St. Louis Masterworks Chorale, Toledo

Opera, Lima Symphony, Toledo Symphony,

Detroit Symphony (Civic), Canton Civic Opera,

Mansfield Symphony, Ann Arbor Festival of

Song, Rochester (N.Y.) Chamber Orchestra, Oak

Ridge (Tenn.) Civic Music Association, and the

Des Moines Metro Opera.

Pfaltzgraff earned a Master of Arts degree

in German literature and a Master of Music

degree from Bowling Green State University

and a Bachelor of Music Education degree from

Simpson College. He completed his Doctor

of Musical Arts degree at the University of

Michigan, where he held the Joy Whitman

Weinberger and Ara Berberian fellowships

and was the inaugural recipient of the Jessye

Norman Fellowship, an award recognizing vocal

excellence. He was also the inaugural recipient

of the James Paul Kennedy Alumni Recognition

Award from Bowling Green State University.

Prior to joining the Wartburg faculty, he taught

at Ohio Northern University and Concordia

University, Ann Arbor.

Dr. Daniel Kaplunas conducts the Wartburg

Community Symphony and the Wartburg

Chamber Orchestra and teaches applied lessons

in violin and viola, instrumental methods, and

conducting. Prior to joining the Wartburg faculty

last fall, he was an assistant professor at Agnes

Scott College and Georgia College and State

University.

He earned his Bachelor of Music and Master

of Music degrees from the University of North

Texas, where he was concertmaster of UNT

Symphony and Chamber orchestras and led

NOVA, a New Music ensemble.

During his doctoral studies at the University

of Georgia with Dr. Levon Ambartsumian,

Kaplunas was assistant conductor of the

UGA Symphony Orchestra and the University

Philharmonia. As a guest conductor with

the ARCO Chamber Orchestra, he presented

American premieres of several works by

contemporary Russian composers M. Bronner

and E. Podgaits that were released on compact

disc by the Phoenix USA record label.

Kaplunas has participated in music festivals

and performed concerts in the United States,

Denmark, Holland, Lithuania, and Germany,

where he was a soloist with the International

Chamber Orchestra of Buckow. He was

principal violist in the ARCO Chamber Orchestra

and Gwinnett Ballet Orchestra, and he also

performed with the Balkan Quartet, a group

dedicated to the dissemination of Balkan music.

Featured Soloists{ }

Dr. Karen Black, organDr. Karen Black chairs the Wartburg College

music department and holds the Rudi Inselmann

Endowed Professorship in Organ. She teaches

organ and church music, aural skills, serves

as organist for the college’s weekday chapel

and Sunday worship services, and conducts

the Chapel Choir. After completing a Bachelor

of Music degree in church music at St. Olaf

College, she earned a Master of Music degree in

organ and church music and a Doctor of Music

degree in organ performance and literature from

Indiana University.

Before joining the Wartburg faculty, she

served as director of music and organist at Zion

Lutheran Church, Hopkins, Minn.; assistant

organist at Trinity Episcopal Church, Indianapolis,

Ind.; and director of music at Church of the

Annunciation, Minneapolis. Her recent organ

recitals have included U.S. performances at

St. Philip’s Cathedral in Atlanta, Ga., and Kansas

State University as well as German appearances

at the Castle Church in Wittenburg and

St. George’s Church in Eisenach. She has been

featured on Minnesota Public Radio’s nationally

broadcast Pipedreams program, and her essay,

“Musical Gifts for the Worshipping Body,”

appears in Translucence: Religion, the Arts, and

Imagination (Augsburg Fortress, 2004).

Black served as dean of the American Guild

of Organists chapter in Waterloo, Iowa, from

2003 to 2005 and as Region III president of the

Association of Lutheran Church Musicians from

1996 to 2000.

23

Dr. Karen Black, chair | organ, music theory, college organist, Chapel Choir director

Dr. Jane Andrews | Castle Singers director, St. Elizabeth Chorale director, music education

Dr. Craig A. Hancock | director of bands, Symphonic Band director, Wind Ensemble director, conducting, trombone, euphonium, tuba

Melanie Harms | music therapy

Dr. Jennifer Larson | voice

Dr. Scott Muntefering | music education, trumpet

Dr. Lee Nelson | Wartburg Choir director, Ritterchor director, conducting, voice

Dr. Brian Pfaltzgraff | voice, opera workshop, diction

Dr. Ted Reuter | piano, music history

Dr. Paula Survilla | music history, music theory

Dr. Suzanne Torkelson | director of Tower School of Music, piano, music theory

Dr. Eric Wachmann | clarinet, music theory

Dr. Daniel Kaplunas | Wartburg Community Symphony conductor, Wartburg Chamber Orchestra conductor, cello, violin, viola, conducting

Dr. Geoffrey Wilson | piano, music theory

ADJUNCT INSTRUCTORS

Diane Beane | piano

Laurie Braaten-Reuter | piano

Gretchen Brumwell | harp

Kimberly Burger | cello

Jeff Burak | guitar

Dominique Cawley | flute

Dr. Simon Estes | artist-in-residence

Michael Finelli | string bass

Daniel Gast | voice

Rosemary Gast | voice

Jack Graham | clarinet

Kara Groen | music therapy

Aaron Hansen | handbell ensemble

Dr. Andrew Harris | French horn

Allan Jacobson | percussion, Knightliters Jazz Band director

Michael Jensen | voice

Dr. Gregory Morton | oboe, bassoon

Carita Pfaltzgraff | voice

Pat Reuter Riddle | piano

Adam Webb | voice

Jane Williams | saxophone

Wartburg Music Faculty{ }

Wartburg is a selective liberal arts college of the Lutheran Church (ELCA),

internationally recognized for community engagement. The college’s 1,805

students come from 50 countries and 29 U.S. states. Wartburg is listed in U.S.

News & World Report’s annual survey of America’s Best Colleges, The Best

Midwestern Colleges, a publication of The Princeton Review, Barron’s Best Buys in

College Education, Forbe’s America’s Best Colleges, and Peterson’s Top Colleges

for Science.

Wartburg offers more than 50 academic majors, including music education,

performance, music therapy, and church music. The college’s 15 vocal and

instrumental music ensembles are open to music and non-music majors. The

Wartburg Choir, Wind Ensemble, and Castle Singers tour annually and travel

abroad every third year during the college’s one-month May Term.

All-State musicians who enroll at Wartburg qualify for minimum $1,000

scholarships. Meistersinger Music Scholarships offer up to $5,000 per year to

music and non-music majors, based on audition.

Wartburg takes its name from the Wartburg Castle in Eisenach, Germany,

where Martin Luther spent 10 months in hiding during the stormy days of the

Protestant Reformation. Music groups frequently visit the castle during their May

Term trips abroad.

Wartburg is dedicated to challenging

and nurturing students for lives

of leadership and service

as a spirited expression of

their faith and learning.

Wartburg College

Connect with Wartburg College on Facebook.

25

music degrees at Wartburg college

Music groups rehearse in the Bachman Fine Arts Center, which provides spacious rehearsal/recital halls for band, choir, and orchestra. A 20-station electronic music laboratory is equipped with synthesizers, sequencers, computers, and software for music theory, composition, and ear training. Bachman Fine Arts Center is furnished with grand and upright pianos, and students have access to five organs on campus.

The Bachelor of Music Education degree

meets the requirements of the Iowa

Department of Education for K-12 music

certification. This entitles students to teach

in the elementary general music classroom

or teach in a band, choir, or orchestral

setting at the middle school or high school

level.

The Bachelor of Music Education/Music

Therapy dual degree is offered for those

who wish to use music to help children

and adults with emotional, mental, and/

or physical problems. This degree allows

students to combine K-12 music certification

through the state department of education

with certification as a registered music

therapist (RMT) through the National

Association for Music Therapy.

The Bachelor of Music in Music Therapy

degree does not include the K-12 music

certification, but it meets the requirements

for certification as a registered music

therapist (RMT) through the National

Association for Music Therapy.

The Bachelor of Arts degree with a

major in church music combines course

work in music and religion to prepare

students for leading music programs in

churches or for further study in graduate

school.

The Bachelor of Music degree prepares

students for further study leading to

professional performance, studio teaching,

or work in church music.

Bachelor of Arts degree in music provides

a variety of career options in the music

field. This degree is the most flexible music

degree, allowing students to combine a

music major with another major or minor

field, such as business or religion.

A music minor offers the opportunity to

satisfy and enhance a vocational interest in

music and combine music with majors in

other academic areas. For education majors,

a music minor offers the opportunity to earn

an elementary or secondary music teaching

endorsement from the Iowa Department of

Education.

Regents and Presidential Scholarships

$7,500-full tuition

Nearly 600 Regents and Presidential

Scholarships were awarded last year

to first-year students based on a

combination of high school gpa, class

rank, and ACT/SAT score.

Wartburg College Funded, Endowed Scholarships $50-$2,500 per year

Last year 471 scholarships were

awarded, recognizing academic

talents, vocational goals, and personal

characteristics, primarily for upper-class

students.

A Great Value Enhanced

A Wartburg College education is a great value, providing students with an excellent education and personalized attention, while laying the foundation for life and career accomplishments. Numerous scholarship and grant opportunities for students enhance that value.

Check out the possibilities below and others at www.wartburg.edu/finaid/scholarships.html.

Meistersinger Music Scholarships Up to $5,000 per year

Open to music and non-music majors

participating in an ensemble and

enrolling in music lessons. Auditions are

in January.

Education Partners In Covenant (EPIC)Up to $750 per year

A matching funds program for members

of participating congregations of the

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Wartburg matches up to $750 per

academic year.

Legacy Grant$1,500 per year

For full-time students with alumni

parent(s) and/or grandparents, and

students with a sibling who currently

attends or has graduated from

Wartburg. Applicable toward tuition.

Not based on financial need.

Connect with Wartburg choirs on Facebook.

Student Profiles

Mark your calenders now. In

celebration of the 75th anniversary of

the Wartburg Choir, a special concert

will feature Wartburg Choir alumni.

If you are a former choir member,

please make plans to return to

campus Oct. 18-21, 2012.

Dr. James Fritschel, Dr. Paul Torkelson,

and Dr. Lee Nelson will conduct the

Alumni Choir in popular Wartburg

Choir pieces, including Liemohn's A

Mighty Fortress Is Our God, Give Me

Thy Hand and Guide Me, Lullaby at

the Manger, In Thy Hand, Qui Sedes,

Elijah Rock, Hark I Hear the Harps

Eternal, Precious Lord, and Give Me

Jesus.

The choir will rehearse Thursday

evening, Friday, and Saturday and

perform Sunday at 3:30 p.m. in

Neumann Auditorium, followed by a

dinner in Knights Ballroom. Wartburg

Choir spouses are also welcome

to sing. We hope you will consider

making this momentous occasion part

of your Fall 2012 plans!

Alumni choir to perform at HomecomingREX DAVIDSON

BIOLOGY PRE-MED JOHNSTON, IOWA

27

Since I arrived on campus, it has been a privilege to participate in such a life-changing choral program. Even though I currently live so far away from San Antonio, Texas, each person in the Wartburg Choir has treated me like family. At the end of each concert, we sing “Give Me Jesus.” When we held hands and sang this song at our first concert, I was overwhelmed by the text, “When I am alone, give me Jesus.” At that moment, it was as if each member was singing those words to comfort and reassure me that I was not alone. Each day, it is such an honor and blessing to be a part of the Wartburg Choir.

Whether it is traveling to Europe for a month to sing in some of the most beautiful cathedrals in the world, being invited to Washington, D.C. to sing at the White House, or singing for thousands of people during our various yearly performances, there is no doubt the choir has afforded me a unique opportunity to give back to the college, community, region, and nation in ways I never thought were possible. Being able to share my gifts in the company of my closest friends, under the direction of our conductor and mentor Dr. Lee Nelson, has been a sincere pleasure and honor which will not soon be forgotten.

My time in the Wartburg Choir has been an amazing experience! Our recent European tour was a life-changing experience that I will always cherish and remember. One of the best parts of singing in the Wartburg Choir is the relationships I have developed and the lives that I have touched around the world through music. I can only imagine what the next couple of years have in store for me and my fellow choir members.

75th

ANNIVERSARY1937 2012

Being part of an on-campus organization, especially the Wartburg Choir, has been the best thing that has happened to me. With the choir alone, I have been able to travel to six countries and nine different states!My senior year in the Wartburg Choir has definitely been the highlight of my college experience. I was fortunate enough not only to be elected president of the ensemble but also to sing with the choir at the White House in Washington, D.C., and at the North Central American Choral Directors Association conference in Madison, Wis. In just four years I'm graduating with two degrees, a multitude of amazing experiences, and wonderful memories to last a lifetime.

cAILEE WHITEFIELDMUSIC EDUCATION/MUSIC THERAPY

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS

crosby King SOCIOLOGY

NORTHFIELD, MINN.

CLAIRE TRAYNORMUSIC EDUCATION/MUSIC THERAPY

STAR PRAIRIE, WIS.

Friday, March 30 8 p.m.In collaboration with Valley High School SingersFaith Lutheran Church10395 University Ave.Clive, Iowa

Saturday, March 317:30 p.m.In collaboration with Iowa City West High School ChoraleZion Lutheran Church310 North Johnson St.Iowa City, Iowa

Saturday, April 14 3 p.m.Home ConcertWartburg ChapelWartburg College100 Wartburg Blvd.Waverly, Iowa Friday, April 207:30 p.m.Bethel Lutheran Church810 Third Ave. SERochester, Minn.

Saturday, April 217:30 p.m.In collaboration with Unum Vox Bethlehem Lutheran Church4310 County Rd. 137Saint Cloud, Minn. Sunday, April 229 a.m.Morning Church ServiceBethlehem Lutheran Church4310 County Rd. 137Saint Cloud, Minn 4 p.m.In collaboration with Blaine High School Concert ChoirLuther Seminary – Olson Campus CenterChapel of the Incarnation 1490 Fulham St.St. Paul, Minn. Monday, April 237:30 p.m.In collaboration with New Richmond High School KammerchorNew Richmond High School Auditorium650 East Richmond WayNew Richmond, Wis.

Tuesday, April 247 p.m.In collaboration with the Milwaukee High School of the Arts ChoirThe Basilica of St. Josaphat2333 South Sixth St. Milwaukee, Wis.

Wednesday, April 2511:45 a.m.Mini concert before noon massBasilica of St. Josaphat2333 South Sixth St. Milwaukee, Wis.

7:30 p.m.In collaboration with Madison Youth Choirs Capriccio and BrittenLuther Memorial Church1021 University Ave. Madison, Wis. Thursday, April 26 7:30 p.m.In collaboration with Woodstock High School Choir and Woodstock High School North ChoirGrace Lutheran Church 1300 Kishwaukee Valley Rd.Woodstock, Ill. Saturday, April 287:30 p.m. St. Paul Lutheran Church2136 North Brady St. Davenport, Iowa

Sunday, April 299:20 a.m. Sunday Morning ServiceSt. Paul Lutheran Church2136 North Brady St. Davenport, Iowa

The Wartburg Choir 2012 Tour

Wartburg Choir RecordingsCDs $15 | OnlIne Albums $9.99 | sIngle DOWnlOADs 99¢

Weston Noble, Director

seARCh FOR WARtbuRg On:

Christmas with Wartburg DVD/CDsets availableA one-hour production of highlights from the Christmas with Wartburg performances aired three times on Iowa Public television during the holidays. the broadcast and a commemorative DVD/CD set were made possible by a generous donation from the sukup Family Foundation and eugene and mary sukup of sheffield. the DVD/CD sets, with the entire performance, are available at the Wartburg bookstore or online at www.wartburgbookstore.com.

2008 The Wartburg Choir, International Tour

Only select albums are available online

2009 The Wartburg Choir, Midwest Concert Tour

2010 Christmas with WartburgShepherd Us, O Holy Child

2010 The Wartburg Choir, Concert Tour

75th

AnniversaryTour

1937 - 2012

100 Wartburg blvd., Waverly, Iowa | www.wartburg.edu