Wartburg Community Symphony

The Wartburg Community Symphony, founded in 1952, is made up of college students, community members, and professionals. Dr. Wade has been directing the ensemble since 1987, and performances are held in Neumann Auditorium. Student members of the symphony rehearse on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons, and the full ensemble meets once a week on Monday evenings. It is a unique entity in that it is both Wartburg affiliated and its own organization; there is a symphony board, season tickets are available. The organization relies almost exclusively on community and business sponsorship as well as memberships and ticket sales to fund its work which includes not only concerts but also scholarships for the student musicians.

Typically there are four or five concerts in a season, each with a different special feature. The WCS brings in many guest soloists of very high quality and a variety of specialties, including most recently pianists Frank Weins and Daria Rabotkina, double bassist Diana Gannett in the 2008-2009 season and violinist Jessica Lee and bassoonist Peter Kolkay in the 2009-2010 season. Waverly dance studio Kinetic Energy has been part of a few concerts as well. This December, they will be dancing to the symphony’s performance of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. The annual December kid-friendly matinee concert includes Christmas favorites along with popular classical literature. For the few years and continuing at this year’s December concert, Cedar Valley radio personality Jacqueline Halbloom provides narration for one of the pieces; last year, she accompanied Dr. Brian Pfaltzgraff in narrating Robert Kapilow’s The Polar Express, and this year will be retelling The Night Before Christmas.

The membership of an ensemble of the WCS’s caliber is not the only non-traditional aspect of the group. Often, the symphony’s opening concert is a silent movie accompanied by its original music; this ensemble is one of the few in the country who performs such works. Also, in April of 1996, the WCS traveled on a Caribbean cruise on The Norway performing two Charlie Chaplin silent films.

As conductor, Dr. Wade has led the Wartburg Community Symphony to unprecedented success including six world, national, and state premieres.

The WCS’s goals are to offer innovative programs, higher professional musicians to provide top-quality performances, feature outstanding soloists, enrich the cultural life of Waverly and the Cedar Valley, and enable talented student musicians to continue private study through scholarships.

The ensemble was also mentioned in a recent issue of Midwest Living magazine.

The next concert is December 12 at 2 PM in Neumann Auditorium.

For current season information, visit http://www.wartburg.edu/symphony/

For information on conductor Dr. Janice Wade, visit http://www.wartburg.edu/music/wade.html

For a rave review of the WCS from one of its guest soloists from the 2005-2006 season, visit http://henrydoktorski.com/misc/wartburg.html

Wartburg Choir

Directors: Ernst Heist 35-37

Dr. Edwin Liemohn 37-68

Dr. James Fritschel 68-84

Dr. Paul Torkelson 84-09
Dr. Lee Nelson 09-present

The Wartburg Choir was founded by Ernst Heist in 1935. Under Dr. Edwin Liemohn’s direction, the choir became one of the first American College choirs to perform on a European tour.

Dr. James Fritschel continued the tradition of excellence from 68-84 by increasing their international exposure. While under the direction of Dr. Fritschel, the choir became the only American choir to win the International Trophy Competition in Cork, Ireland. Fritschel was also a nationally known composer and had been published by many companies. After leaving Wartburg, he became the director of the California Lutheran University Choir.

Under Dr. Paul Torkelson’s direction, he led the choir at two solo concerts in New York City’s Carnegie Hall, two concerts at Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center, a concert in Orchestra hall in Minneapolis and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

Beginning in 2009, Dr. Lee Nelson will become the director of the choir. In 2005, he won the first-place award in the graduate division of the American Choral Directors Association National Conducting Competition.

Choir performance highlights can be found at this link: http://www.wartburg.edu/choir/highlights.html

Castle Singers

Directors: Dr. E. Arne Hovdesven 50-59

Dr. James Fritschel 59-71

Franklin Williams 71-78, 81-84

Kristi Becker 78-80

Eugene T. Wilson 80-81

Gayle Hartwig 84-87

Dr. Paul Torkelson 87-01

Dr. Jane Andrews 01-present

The group founded by Dr. E. Arne Hovdesven, was created in 1950 carrying the name of the Chapel Choir. During Dr. James Fritschel’s tenure, the group’s name changed to Wartburg Castle Singers, and the focus of the group became music and drama. During Franklin William’s tenure, the group traveled to the former U.S.S.R.

In 1987, Dr. Paul Torkelson helped give the group stability and built on its traditions and performance experiences. During his tenure the group made several trips abroad including Western Europe and Australia.

Since Dr. Jane Andrews tenure beginning in 2001, she has brought the group to new levels of jazz performance. She started the Wartburg Vocal Jazz Festival. During her time at Wartburg, she has led the group at numerous local, state, and regional events.

Castle singer performance highlights can be found at http://www.wartburg.edu/singers/history.html.

St. Elizabeth’s Chorale

Directors: Matthew Armstrong 97-98

Eileen Farrell 98-00

Kathleen Osburn 00-01

Dr. Jane Andrews 01-present

The St. Elizabeth Chorale takes its name from a famous resident of the college's namesake, the Wartburg Castle in Eisenach, Germany. Elizabeth (1207-1231) lived at the castle as the wife of a Thuringian landgrave. Inspired by the teachings of her contemporary, St. Francis, she left the castle after her husband's death and became Germany's first female Franciscan. She was canonized in 1235.

During Elizabeth's time at the castle, she carried on an active ministry to the less fortunate. According to legend, she smuggled bread from the castle kitchen for the poor. Because the practice was forbidden, she hid the food in her robe. On one such trip, suspicious courtiers accosted Elizabeth and demanded that she open her robe. When she complied, roses had appeared in place of the bread. Today, Wartburg College hosts a service week dedicated to her memory, and roses are a college symbol of service and faith.

Ritterchor

The Ritterchor (Knight's Choir) honors the Wartburg Castle, where Martin Luther once lived disguised as a knight.

Founded in 1997 by professor Matthew Armstrong, Ritterchor is open by audition to all men on the Wartburg College campus. The group performs a variety of literature for events on and off campus.

From 1998-2003 and again from 2007 to the present the group has performed in Wartburg's annual holiday festival, Christmas with Wartburg. Dr. Paul Torkelson was conductor of the group from 2002-2009. Dr. Lee Nelson is now the current director.

CHRISTMAS WITH WARTBURG!

CWW: the Beginning
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Christmas with Wartburg began in 1947 under the direction of Dr. Edwin Liemohn and Edfield Odegard. Although both the college and the program have grown considerably since then, the 1947 program was remarkably similar in format to the current production. This performance was done in the Waverly High school gymnasium.
Enrollment in 1947 was 632, compared with today's total of 1,810. The numbers reflected a growing postwar influx of men—144 in the freshman class compared with 37 in the senior class.

CWW in 1949
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When Knights Gymnasium opened on the Wartburg campus, its stage became the Christmas concert venue, beginning in December 1949. The 1951 program was the first to use the title "Christmas at Wartburg." By that time, the Wartburg Band and the Castle Singers were included.

Dr. Warren Schmidt joined the music faculty in 1950 and subsequently became Christmas with Wartburg organist for the next 40 years. He recalls moving a portative pipe organ to Knights Gym for the annual program, which by 1953 was attracting an audience of more than 1,500.




1968 to 1973
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In 1968, the Wartburg Community Symphony Orchestra, an oratorio chorus, and the Wartburg Choir and Castle Singers performed Handel’s Messiah in the gym, followed the next year by Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, which included the local high school chamber choir and a sixth-grade select choir.

CWW in 1974
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Christmas at Wartburg returned to its more traditional format in 1974, featuring the Wartburg Concert Band, Castle Singers, Wartburg women’s chorus and chamber choir, faculty women’s chorus and flute choir.




2007 performances
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The 2007 program included approximately 350 student musicians and is viewed by nearly 7,000 people. Christmas with Wartburg has been featured on public television stations around the United States and in Midwest Living magazine.



Christmas with Wartburg Today
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The 2009 performance will be the 62 anniversary.

This year’s performances will be on:
Friday, December 4th (Neumann) 7:30 PM
Saturday, December 5th (Lutheran Church of Hope, Des Moines) 7:30 PM
Sunday, December 6th (Neumann) 2:00 PM
(Neumann) 7:00 PM

Genres of Vocal Music

Genres of Vocal Music

Medieval and Renaissance
c. 900—Gregorian chants
--used for liturgical purposes

17th-19th Centuries
Art song
--music and literature combined
--Sir Hubert Perry, Frederick Delius,
Concert
--Aria
--Henry Purcell’s “Ye Gentle Spirits of the Air, Appear”, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9
Opera
--means “little book”
--The Magic Flute, Carmen
Folk—Scottish, Irish, Welsh




20th-21st centuries*

Gospel
Pop
Examples: Madonna, Britney Spears
Rock
Examples: Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Aerosmith, Blink-182, The Killers
Country
Examples: Johnny Cash, Keith Urban
Rap
Examples: Eminem, LL Cool J
Characteristics: rhythmic rhyming
Blues
Examples: Bessie Smith, Duke Ellington
Characteristics: blues notes—lowering notes
Metal
Examples: Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Kiss
Characteristics: harsh vocals, screaming, growling
Sub Genres:
--thrash metal --doom/gothic metal --black metal
--groove metal --Viking metal --power metal
--symphonic metal --death metal
--glam metal --progressive metal
Electro/Electronic/Electronica/Techno
Examples: Daft Punk, LCD Soundsystem, Ratatat, The Chemical Brothers, MSTRKRFT, The Faint
Characterizations: Vocal distortions, computerized vocals, repetition
Indie
Examples: The Decemberists, Eisley, Franz Ferdinand, Tegan & Sara, Yo La Tenga


*Note: I have not included every genre (or sub genres) in existence--just the most common and well known

A Cappella and SATB

A Cappella Music
 … is vocal music sung without instrumental accompaniment
 The Gregorian Chant is a type of a cappella
 Originally formed to differentiate Renaissance polyphony from Baroque concertato
 Now can be included in many styles such as barbershop, doo wop, and modern pop or rock
 Originally was used in church music
 All madrigal music is a cappella
 Made popular in the US with the founding of the Northwestern A Cappella Choir in 1906
 A 1950s R&B group the Nutmegs are also known as the “Rajahs of a cappella” and were the first group to showcase a cappella format
 Earliest documented quartets began in barbershops
 









SATB Music
 Initialism for soprano, alto, tenor and bass
 Refers to a common scoring for choruses and choirs
 Also has been notated as SCTB with the C standing for contralto
 Can be sung with mixed genders, choirs with men and boys, or four soloists
 Can be used to notate in instrument ensembles
 Non-choral pieces, mainly fugues, have also been written using SATB