Apparently I can't get enough Christmas Festival! I was fortunate enough to attend Christmas Fest on Thursday night... we had floor seats, on the end, so that when the students were processing in or recessing out of the auditorium they were right next to us. As the woman on MPR just described, when the students are singing all around you it feels like a giant hug. But attending the performance on Thursday wasn't enough. The Sunday afternoon performance is broadcast live on MPR, which I had completely forgotten until perusing FaceBook. Thank goodness someone reminded me to listen to it live! I caught the last 50 minutes of the Fest (the best 50 mins if you ask me) from the comfort of my home. Would you consider me a giant dork if I told you I turned off all my lights except for the Christmas tree and laid on the couch listening to the 5 choirs and orchestra? I even had the program in front of me so when the congregation was invited to sing, I sang along. In my house. By myself.
Sometimes music moves me to the point of tears, especially Christmas Fest. A couple songs in particular this year - Praise to the Lord (a hymn from the 17th century) and, of course, Beautiful Savior. Both of those songs had me in tears. Another highlight was the Viking Chorus performing Oba Se Je, a Nigerian folk song. And then of course there's the orchestra - this year they performed a piece called Rejoice!, recently written by Steven Amundson (the director of the StO Orchestra). I loved being able to picture the StO musicians on stage, performing their pieces. If you're interested in listening to the broadcast, see the following website for more information:
http://www.stolaf.edu/christmasfest/broadcast.html
Enjoy!
I know I did... twice.
Jill
