Our Philosophy:
The Music Department at St. Olaf College prepares musicians to be leaders who can actively transform our world through practicing and making meaning of music in community. We believe that music connects communities in a powerful way when it is intentionally shared across cultural and generational lines. The heartbeat of music making resounds in relationships between individual participants, musicians and their audiences, and musicians and their communities, on and beyond the Hill.
What do we mean by Community Engagement?
Our community engaged work in the St. Olaf College Music Department is rooted in this philosophy. Community engagement takes on different forms based on the interests, abilities, and goals of those working in musical partnership and is an integral part of our individual and collective vocations. Music, our field of study, serves as our way of connecting with our neighbors, being responsive to the world’s needs, and gaining a great deal in the process. We live into this vocation by building relationships with our neighbors and communities, listening deeply, and collaboratively musicking our way to stronger bonds, deeper understanding, and meaningful growth around shared goals—together.
BA Music for Social Impact Major
This major anchors the study of music in a performance-oriented commitment to community engaged learning, asking the question, “How can we develop and deploy our musical gifts to serve the common good?” BAMSI majors apply to join the program in the spring of their first year at St. Olaf, and 3-5 students are admitted each year through an interview process. Each BAMSI major contributes to establishing a relationship with a new community partner or stewarding an already-existing partnership over the course of three years. An important part of the program is recruiting other students to contribute to these projects and preparing a plan to hand over the work before graduation, so the community partner relationship continues beyond the contributions of any one student. Read more about it in this recent St. Olaf News story: “Inside St. Olaf’s new music for social impact major.”
Project Partner: FiftyNorth community center for Rice County resident adults over 50.
Project Description
This project involves hosting concerts at FiftyNorth community center where St. Olaf musicians share their music with community members, creating a warm space of happiness and joy. Ian recruits musicians to perform (either small, pre-established chamber groups like barbershop or brass quintet) or spontaneously created ensembles (the roster of musicians change every time). One or two concerts per semester emphasize interaction between musicians and audience. Participants suggest themes, like Mardi Gras, and Ian selects repertoire. Student performers actively participate in introducing themselves and the songs they are leading. The conclusion of the music makes way for a wonderful period of interaction, allowing for intergenerational connections to form over coffee and cookies. Students are expected to stay and socialize after the performance; the music is a catalyst for conversation.
Project Partner: Northfield Public Library
Project Description
The student project lead is working on plans to facilitate the creation of a community song for Northfield, a song that describes what Northfield is for Latine residents, reflecting their ideals for what Northfield is and/or should be – a “Northfield anthem.” The project lead will partner with Latine musicians in Northfield to facilitate community reflection/journaling sessions so that the community is participating in the creation of this song. One idea has been to partner with Sabios Cantores, a group of singers that already gather and participate in meaningful music making, with leader Vladimir Garrido who already has experience writing songs and leading groups of people. Ideally, the project lead wants to support a project like this, and facilitate it, but want to center the visions, expertise, and identity of the people who are long term residents of Northfield and will sing this song long after the student moves on from Northfield. The student lead anticipates that the project idea will change based on priorities and visions of the collaborators, but whatever the project ends up being will be rooted in using music to foster cross-cultural community cohesion between Hispanic/Latine residents and Anglo residents in Northfield.
Project Partner: “Lifting Voices Chorus” for singers living with dementia and their care partners at FiftyNorth, directed by Kristin Kivell.
Project Description
The first Giving Voice Chorus was inspired from one basic idea – to counter and redefine the stigma of living with Alzheimer’s and dementia. Too often when someone is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or dementia, there is an immediate sense of despair and loss which is compounded by misunderstanding in the greater community. As symptoms worsen, these feelings only multiply and individuals self-isolate, increasing the weight of responsibility on care partners. This choral program was developed using the neurologically proven impact of music to increase wellbeing, to increase feelings of value and worth as singers spend time rehearsing and socializing together in a welcoming environment, and to spread understanding by educating audiences through performance. Kristin Kivell directs the “Lifting Voices Chorus” which began rehearsing in January 2026. This project will recruit volunteers to support weekly rehearsals (Mondays from 1-3 PM) and seasonal performances.
Project Partner: Northfield Hospital & Clinics
Project Description
St. Olaf students work in tandem with Northfield Hospital & Clinics to offer music to staff and patients through various existing programs at the campus. The student project leads are collaborating with hospital administrators and staff to determine how St. Olaf student musicians can best serve the hospital’s needs. To date this has primarily involved working with patient support groups. There’s an ambition to create a database of recorded St. Olaf performances for patients to access during treatment. We have some material to offer on what music looks like as a process in the brain and the body, and hope to lead a vibrant discussion considering the significance of music and the connections we make. Gentle humming and clapping along with a guitar will be included as part of an activity planned to demonstrate and practice the points of our conversation. Student project leads have met with the organizers of volunteer coordination, the Breast Cancer Support Group, and the Cancer Support Group.
Developing the Next Generation of Musicians: Working with Youth
Dr. Therees Hibbard
Associate Professor of Practice in Music
NYC Chorale Conductor
Dr. Leigh Ann Garner
Assistant Professor of Music Education
NYC Junior Singers Conductor
Singers in grades K-12, college students, and adults enjoy weekly rehearsals with nationally renowned directors and music educators, retreats, area performances, and tours appropriate to their ages and developing voices.
Dr. Dale Kruse
Associate Professor of Practice in Music
Music 268: Opera Creation Residency in the Schools (January Term)
Participants mentor elementary school students as they compose and perform their own original works, culminating in staged public performances.
Read more:
“Teaching the Art of Opera Making”
“St. Olaf, Prairie Creek collaborate on original opera”
Dr. April Ryun Kim
Community Piano Lessons
Assistant Professor of Music – Piano
Dr. David Carter
Community Strings Lessons
Professor of Music – Cello
Join other highly-skilled high school musicians from across the nation for an exciting week of music-making featuring our internationally-acclaimed ensemble directors at the St. Olaf Summer Music Academy!
Creative Collaborations for Social Justice
Ruth’s House and Manitou Singers collaboration
Dr. Therees Hibbard
Manitou Singers Conductor
Associate Professor of Practice in Music
Database for Historically Underrepresented Composers was constructed by:
Raina Swanson Edson ’23, BM Music Education, and
Dr. Karen Olson, Music Research and Instructional Librarian
Database Launch Instagram Post
Music Library Association Conference 2023 presentation:
“A Student-Led Solution to the DEI Discovery Challenge”
“Social Justice & Identity in Choral Music”
Dr. Anton Armstrong ’78
Tosdal Professor of Music
Conductor, St. Olaf Choir
Mari Esabel Valverde ’10
Composer
https://marivalverde.com/
Herbert Washington ’03
Artistic Director, Phoenix Boys Choir
https://www.boyschoir.org/artistic
“Mapping Washington Conservatory Alumni in Black American Musical Life”
Dr. Louis Epstein
Associate Professor of Music – Musicology
Davis Moore ’23
BA Music and History
Ariana Raduege ’23
BA Music and Environmental Studies
Jack Slavik ’23
BM Music Education
Lizzie Gray ’25
BA Gender & Sexuality Studies and History
CURI Research: “Amplifying Composers of Color: Decentering Whiteness in the American Art Music Canon”
Dr. Emery Stephens Jr.
Assistant Professor of Music – Voice
Jimena Fernández, ’22
BA Music and Political Science
Elijah Leer, ’22
BM Music Education
Local and Global Community Engagement
Dr. Rehanna Kheshgi
Assistant Professor of Music – Ethnomusicology
Ethical Local and Global Engagement Course
Music 237: Local & Global Musicking
Students study how musicians and music researchers impact society, addressing questions related to ethical musicking in an unequal world. Through a series of case studies, students experience hands-on workshops with local performers and design community engaged music research proposals. Studying local examples of engagement with music and musicians from around the world prepares students to carry out collaborative musical work wherever they are.
Dr. Rehanna Kheshgi
Assistant Professor of Music – Ethnomusicology
Somali Community Engagement ACE Course
Music 347: Somali Community Engagement through Music
Students explore how Somali diaspora communities have made important visible and audible contributions to the cultural landscape of Minnesota, while studying and learning to perform the interconnected arts of Somali poetry, music, and dance. Interactions with local Somali musicians and community leaders and collaboratively working to support the needs of a Somali community partner organization provides students with hands-on experience in community engagement.
Arts and Democracy ACE Course
in Washington, D.C.
Interdisciplinary 242: The Arts and Democracy in Washington, D.C.
Dr. Louis Epstein
Associate Professor of Music – Musicology
Alyssa Melby
Program Director of Academic Civic Engagement
Students meet arts professionals in varied fields; visit galleries, museums, theaters, music and dance performances, arts and civic organizations; and develop strategies for practicing citizenship and democratic engagement through artistic expression.
Opera in Context
in GERMANY AND Austria
Music 266: Contextual Opera Study Abroad
Dr. Dale Kruse
Associate Professor of Practice in Music
Students explore and reflect on opera in the context of changing geo-political social ideology and worldview, the advances in stagecraft and technology, the human desire for beauty, and challenges brought by historical inequities.
Public Performances
Bridge Chamber Music Festival
Dr. Francesca Anderegg
Festival Artistic Director
Associate Professor of Music – Violin
The annual Bridge Chamber Music Festival brings world class musicians to a small town setting in Northfield, Minnesota. With a variety of classical and jazz ensembles we endeavor to thrill audiences with the power and emotion of an intimate performance environment featuring top tier musicians. Our generous donors and a Legacy Fund grant from the State of Minnesota allow us to offer these performances for free!
Korean Composers Festival
Dr. April Ryun Kim ’11
Festival Director
Assistant Professor of Music – Piano
The inaugural Korean Composers Festival was held in September 2023 on the St. Olaf College campus. The festival featured presentations and performances of music written by Korean and Korean diaspora composers of the past and present. The Festival will be held again in September 2025.
Access the 2023 Festival Program here.
Music Ensembles
Each year, around 500 students participate in the St. Olaf Christmas Festival that is rebroadcast around the country on PBS during the holiday season. Students involved in St. Olaf Band, St. Olaf Choir, and St. Olaf Orchestra tour nationally each year and internationally on a rotating basis.
Band Day and Choir Day offer K-12 musicians an opportunity to visit campus and work with St. Olaf conductors and students.
Sharing the Legacy of Spirituals
Dr. Emery Stephens, curator and performer
Assistant Professor of Music – Voice
“Sharing the Legacy of Spirituals” is a performance education project, funded by the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council, on African American spirituals, interspersed with African drumming, dance, and narration through a collaboration between faculty, staff, and students from Carleton and St. Olaf colleges.
Community Engagement Resources
Academic Civic Engagement (ACE) at St. Olaf
St. Olaf ACE Faculty Research & Projects
Social Change Wheel 2.0 Toolkit
Ethical Community Engagement Modules
Dr. Eric Hazlett (Visiting Assistant Professor of Physics) on Social Justice & Science – April 2023
Dr. Tania Mitchell (University of Minnesota) on Critical Service Learning – November 2022
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