From the Heart
In looking back at his St. Olaf College career, Steven Amundson recalls that he initially wasn’t interested in becoming conductor of the St. Olaf Orchestra. It took two phone calls from St. Olaf to convince him to apply for the job in 1981. The first was from Charles Forsberg, then-chair of St. Olaf’s Music Department and head of the search committee. The second was from President Harlan Foss, who gave Amundson the hard sell, detailing the merits of the college and its orchestra.
But Amundson, who had just won the coveted Hans Häring Prize for conducting at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria, was newly employed as music director of the Tacoma (Washington) Youth Symphony. He planned to stay a while, so he politely declined to apply for the St. Olaf position.
“I didn’t know enough about St. Olaf to realize how shortsighted that was, but I said I’d made a commitment to Tacoma and it was simply too soon to leave,” he says.
But Foss persisted. He knew Amundson’s parents lived nearby and told him if he applied and was asked to interview, he could also enjoy a visit with his family.
When Amundson eventually came to campus for a day of interviews, “I didn’t know what to expect,” he says. Late in the afternoon, he met with about 75 enthusiastic orchestra students, who packed into Christiansen Hall of Music’s relatively small reception room. An hour later, he conducted those students in a rehearsal of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 8 and Bernstein’s Overture to Candide.
“My meeting with the students was a game changer. Their dreams for the orchestra were inspiring, and I was impressed with their intelligence, earnestness, and good humor,” Amundson says. “They were simply way more talented than I’d expected. When rehearsal was over, I knew it would be a huge mistake to turn the job down, if offered.”
My meeting with the students was a game changer. Their dreams for the orchestra were inspiring, and I was impressed with their intelligence, earnestness, and good humor. They were simply way more talented than I’d expected. When rehearsal was over, I knew it would be a huge mistake to turn the job down, if offered.Steven Amundson
But even though the day had gone well, Foss had one remaining concern: It was a big risk to bring in a 25-year-old with little collegiate-level conducting experience. “You’re really too young for this position,” Foss said.
Amundson didn’t miss a beat. “Give me a few years, and I’ll fix that,” he said. Foss apparently liked the joke, because about 10 days later, Amundson was offered the job.
“Despite my age, it was certainly possible that I was the right fit at the time,” Amundson says. “I believe in the ideals of the college, I value its traditions, and I’m a person of faith.”
A consummate musician and educator, he has gone on to use his gifts of kindness, humility, and generosity of spirit, as well as his commitment to excellence, to shape the St. Olaf Orchestra into an unparalleled collegiate ensemble dedicated to heartfelt, passionate music making that all listeners can appreciate and celebrate.
The making of a musical life
As the youngest child of a Lutheran pastor, Amundson often sang with his four siblings at home. Starting piano lessons at age 4 and trumpet lessons at age 9, he later switched to the euphonium and picked up the trombone so he could play in his school jazz band and orchestra.
“It’s truly weird how many conductors are trombone players,” Amundson says. “Sitting in the back row and counting lots of measures of rest, I listened, learned, and started conducting rehearsals in my head. As a young musician, I looked forward to being the person in charge.”
Amundson firmed up his plans as an undergraduate at Luther College, where he earned a B.A. in music while playing euphonium and trombone, singing in the Nordic Choir, and leading the college’s jazz ensemble during his senior year. His musical mentors included St. Olaf alumnus Maurice Monhardt ’52, Douglas Meyer, Bob Getchell, Fred Nyline, and especially Weston Noble, who was known for his 57-year tenure as music professor and conductor of the Nordic Choir and Luther College Concert Band.
Noble modeled a career that Amundson has strived for at St. Olaf. “He absolutely cherished each student and made us feel important and special,” Amundson says. “I’d never want to compare myself to him, but I’ve done my best to connect with my students and to create a positive, light-hearted environment while striving for a community filled with what we call ‘Orchie love,’ a tradition that started as ‘Cello love’ in the 1990s.”
After graduating from Luther, he earned a master of music degree in conducting at Northwestern University, where he studied with Bernard Rubenstein and John Paynter, choosing to focus on orchestral conducting because of its alluring body of literature.
“I fell in love with Beethoven, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, and Mahler — the list is endless,” he says. “I was enthralled. I loved the warmth and beauty of the strings and the sweeping physicality of it all.”
He continued his graduate studies at the University of Virginia and attended the Aspen Music School, where he was privileged to attend a two-week symposium led by Erich Leinsdorf. The following summer, Amundson studied conducting at the Mozarteum International Summer Academy in Salzburg, where he was mentored by the gifted master conductor Milan Horvat from Zagreb, Croatia.
“I learned so much from him about the mechanics of conducting, as well as how to treat the orchestra and how to study a score,” Amundson says. Competing against 49 other students from around the world, Amundson won the academy’s prestigious Hans Häring Prize, which came with a monetary award and the opportunity to lead a recording session broadcast on Austrian National Radio.
After moving to Tacoma, he was thriving in his first year with the youth symphony, fully engaged with the area’s musical opportunities. It seemed like the perfect situation.
And then St. Olaf came calling.
An enthusiastic, caring leader
As a young faculty member in St. Olaf’s Music Department, Amundson usually wore a coat and tie to distinguish himself from his students. His colleagues were generally much older, and he was delighted when Anton Armstrong ’78 and Timothy Mahr ’78 — who were closer to his age — were hired as conductor of the St. Olaf Choir and conductor of the St. Olaf Band, respectively, in 1990 and 1994. He also appreciated the support of the late Bob “BJ” Johnson, longtime manager of music organizations, who “always had my back,” he says.
Steve’s voice resonates with an incredible amount of authority, and he’s got a wide-open heart for students — whom he always places first — and colleagues alike.St. Olaf Band Conductor Timothy Mahr ’78
Flautist Beth Ross Buckley ’82, founder and co-artistic director of San Diego’s Camarada, was a senior during Amundson’s first year and recalls that she had no idea how young he was at the time.
“He didn’t tell us how old he was, most likely to create an intentional separation between student and faculty member,” she says. “He was so confident and self-assured, and it was immediately apparent how skilled he was, which contributed to him seeming older.”
Amundson immediately found the orchestra’s tremendous potential energizing. From the start, he took an interest in his students’ artistic and personal growth. He knew that if they worked hard and played with heart, they’d be successful. He fostered a family atmosphere within the group, cultivating a culture of community through his passion for classical music, teaching, and togetherness.
In the 1980s and through 1997, Amundson also conducted the Bloomington (Minnesota) Symphony Orchestra. During this time he began dating Jane Zak, a math teacher and talented Bloomington Symphony cellist, who had played in the St. Olaf Orchestra for two years before transferring to the University of Minnesota to complete her degree in math education. Members of the Bloomington Symphony, thrilled for the couple, gave them an engagement party in the fall of 1987; they married in January of 1988.
The Amundsons’ children, Beret and Karl, have further enriched their lives. When the kids were young, they especially enjoyed having Orchies as babysitters, students who were “revered in our home,” Amundson says.
“Family is so important to me,” Amundson says. “It means everything to have married my best friend and to have had Jane’s and the kids’ full support in all aspects of my St. Olaf life and work.”
Forty years after first setting foot in Christiansen Hall, Amundson is now emeritus professor of music and a highly respected senior member of the Music Department. “His voice resonates with an incredible amount of authority, and his comments and opinions come from a place of serious consideration,” says Mahr, who considers Amundson a kindred spirit. “He’s got a wide-open heart for students — whom he always places first — and colleagues alike.”
Amundson’s dear friend and colleague Richard Erickson ’66, who was associate manager of the St. Olaf Orchestra and St. Olaf Band from 1995 to 2009, now markets Amundson’s self-published compositions. For many students, “playing in the St. Olaf Orchestra is the highlight of their musical career. That’s due to Steve’s leadership, and his kind and caring nature,” says Erickson.
That kind and caring nature was on display during the early days of the pandemic, when Amundson composed and performed all four parts of a barbershop quartet in a video for homebound students. His performance, which drew thousands of views on YouTube and Facebook, included a tribute to the Class of 2020, a musical break on kazoos, and lyrics like “We really miss our Orchies, that’s certainly true … since you’ve been away, we’re definitely feeling blue.”
A dynamic conductor and teacher
Amundson has led the St. Olaf Orchestra in more than 750 performances, both on campus and at some of the world’s most renowned concert halls, including Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall in New York City, Chicago’s Orchestra Hall, Nuremberg’s Meistersingerhalle, Prague’s Rudolfinum, the Oslo Opera House, the Beijing Concert Hall, and the Bellena Azul Concert Hall in Buenos Aires.
Amundson’s style on the podium is an education in the art and craft of conducting, says his former student and longtime friend Craig Hella Johnson ’84, a Grammy Award–winning conductor of the world-renowned choral ensemble Conspirare.
“He conveys the large, sweeping architecture of a work, as well as the nuanced details of phrases and rhythms,” Johnson says. “He’s just so fluid, clear, and concise. His gorgeous, technical communication is shapely and elegant. It’s always connected to the breath, with a sort of singing aspect to it. It’s just beautiful to watch.”
A longtime mantra of Amundson’s has been “If we sell it, they’ll buy it.” He calls his conductor’s credo “Passion Plus” — creating great performances by capturing the hearts and minds of audience members. He insists on technical precision and encourages students to move, breathe, and listen across the ensemble. This approach has led to performances that are alive, sincere, honest, and heartfelt.
Steve lifts others up. He’s very adept at getting others to perform at their highest level. And while demanding, he is also gracious and giving. He as a true servant spirit.St. Olaf Choir Conductor Anton Armstrong ’78
“Watching the conductor is only one aspect of fine orchestral playing. Listening to each other to find your place in the sound is paramount,” says Amundson, noting that moving and breathing together as one is key. “It’s not just about playing accurate notes and rhythms — it’s about fully embodying the music and relating it to human experience. We must try to discover the beauty and meaning in each piece we perform.”
Award-winning composer and double bass player Matthew Peterson ’06 says that the musical values he learned from Amundson resonate in his music today. “Steve taught us to take personal responsibility for creating the music in the moment by playing the dynamics, articulation, line, and gesture,” Peterson says.
The St. Olaf Orchestra will premiere Peterson’s newest work, Symphony No. 1: The Singing Wilderness, at pre-tour concerts in Minnesota and during its 2022 tour, which will be Amundson’s final time taking the ensemble on the road. “It’s perhaps my best work,” says Peterson, “and if anyone deserves that from me, it’s Steve.”
The piece, which celebrates Amundson’s career, was commissioned by St. Olaf with support from the Neil A. Kjos Endowment and the Robert Scholz Endowed Chair in Music fund established by Steven Fox ’77. The Northern Symphony Orchestra and the Metropolitan Symphony, a Twin Cities-based civic ensemble founded by Amundson in 1982, also contributed to the commission.
Amundson has taught many students in courses on instrumentation, aural skills, music theory, and conducting, and he’s incredibly proud of the hundreds of orchestra members who have become music educators, professors, conductors, and professional musicians (see the “Friend and Mentor” section at the end of this piece). His influence extends far beyond the Hill, reverberating throughout the orchestral world at all levels. He has conducted countless honors orchestras and 25 of the country’s All-State orchestras. He has taught at numerous music camps, and his skills as a clinician and adjudicator at conferences, festivals, and auditions have been much in demand.
Notes on a page
Though he’s now a successful, commissioned composer who has written 23 original orchestral works, Amundson didn’t begin seriously composing until nearly 15 years into his St. Olaf career, when Armstrong asked him to arrange a tune for the St. Olaf Christmas Festival, to be performed by the St. Olaf Choir and St. Olaf Orchestra.
“Then my dad died suddenly,” Amundson says. “He was my best supporter, and I loved him so much.”
Amundson wrote his first original piece, Angel’s Dance, in honor of his father. Published in 1995, it remains one of his most performed works and has been recorded by the Houston Symphony Orchestra and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra.
Set in 7/8 meter, Angel’s Dance is rhythmic and colorful, lilting, and joyful, and quotes the hymn tune Angels We Have Heard on High. “It’s meant to celebrate my dad’s great optimism and joy. He loved singing, and that carol is one of the most joyful tunes I know,” Amundson says.
Many of Amundson’s Christmas-themed pieces, such as On Christmas Day, Glories Ring, and Rejoice, also incorporate favorite carols. They’ve been premiered by the St. Olaf Orchestra at the Christmas Festival and have received more than a thousand performances by university, civic, and professional orchestras, including the Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, and Toronto Symphonies.
Handprints, a piece commissioned in 2013 for the 50th anniversary of the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra, was a finalist for the American Prize for Orchestral Composition. During its 2022 tour, the St. Olaf Orchestra will premiere Amundson’s newest work, Gratia Viva (Living with Gratitude), which was commissioned by Doug Scott in honor of his wife, Grace Schroeder Scott ’72, who recently retired as a senior development officer at St. Olaf. Amundson has long discussed gratitude with his Orchies and was excited to write a piece with this theme. “I’ve dreamt of writing a piece based on the idea of gratitude, and I’m pleased to bring this to life,” Amundson says.
Amundson spends much of his summers composing at his family’s cabin in Ely, Minnesota, an idyll he finds inspiring, with its quietude, woods, and water. “I love paddling, hiking, and bicycling, which help me feel centered and bolster my creative energy,” he says.
“I’m most successful composing when I get into an almost dreamy, meditative state,” Amundson says. “I’ve been known to shed tears when I’m writing, when it feels beautiful and heavenly, as though it’s not coming from me. It’s often a reverent and spiritual process, and when inspiration comes, it’s a wonderful gift,” he says.
One of his pieces is actually titled The Gift, and its premiere remains one of Amundson’s most treasured performances with the St. Olaf Orchestra. The work honors the life of Eric Drotning ’02, an exceptional percussionist with the orchestra who died at age 24 in 2004. The Gift was commissioned by his family, which includes his sister, Elizabeth Drotning Hartwell ’99, who played cello in the orchestra.
The Gift quotes Drotning’s favorite hymn, O Day Full of Grace, and the piece’s main unifying element are the notes E, C, D, G — the beginning and ending letters in Drotning’s name. The orchestra performed the piece on tour in Drotning’s hometown of Albuquerque in 2008.
“It was very special,” Amundson says. “We were performing for Eric’s friends and family in a beautiful hall, and you could feel the love in that room. When we finished, there wasn’t a dry eye in the place. I’ll never forget that performance.”
Amundson literally once composed a piece on the fly. A day before the St. Olaf Orchestra and the St. Olaf Choir were set to depart for a tour of Norway in 2019, Amundson learned the orchestra would need to play a fanfare for the King of Norway’s entrance to its performance at the Oslo Opera House.
“I could have used any brass fanfare, but I loved the idea of getting the whole orchestra involved, and none of the orchestra fanfares in our library seemed quite right,” he says.
So, while flying over the Atlantic Ocean, Amundson began composing an original piece, adding the choir at the last moment to sing Beloved Norway, Amen! in Norwegian. He finished Grand Fanfare in four days, just a few hours before the groups’ one and only rehearsal.
“He wrote the entire thing by hand,” says Armstrong, who recalls testing melodies by singing them out loud with Amundson on the plane, “causing our fellow passengers to think we were a bit crazy.”
Excellence on the stage
The St. Olaf Orchestra has flourished tremendously under Amundson’s leadership. The ensemble’s highest honor is being a two-time first prize winner of the American Prize in Orchestral Performance among colleges and universities, claiming the prize over orchestral programs that included master’s and doctoral students. In 2013, the group won for its performances of Silvestre Revueltas’s Sensemayá, Sibelius’s Valse Triste, and Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé Suite No. 2, and in 2018 for its performances of works by Brahms, Bartók, and Rachmaninoff.
Reviewers have compared the St. Olaf Orchestra to professional orchestras for its technically proficient, energetic, and passionate performances of pieces not usually programmed at the college level, including Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra, Richard Strauss’s tone poem Don Juan, and Stravinsky’s notoriously difficult ballet score The Rite of Spring.
Reviewers have compared the St. Olaf Orchestra to professional orchestras for its technically proficient, energetic, and passionate performances of pieces not usually programmed at the college level, including Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra, Richard Strauss’s tone poem Don Juan, and Stravinsky’s notoriously difficult ballet score The Rite of Spring.
Richard Ostling of Time magazine wrote, “I was astonished by the music of the St. Olaf Orchestra. It has to be one of the best college orchestras in the nation.” In 2005, the Norwegian paper Vårt Land stated, “It is obviously unfair to compare this orchestra with the established and professional. But it is fully possible.”
During Amundson’s tenure, the orchestra has performed in 31 states and taken nine international tours to 14 countries, including groundbreaking performances in China, Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Argentina.
“I’m so grateful that the college supports touring, which provides students with life-changing musical, cultural, and educational experiences,” Amundson says.
Terra Widdifield ’95, who played harp in the orchestra and is now St. Olaf’s associate director of Music Organizations, says the orchestra’s outstanding reputation makes her job — arranging concerts and events for the ensemble — easy and fun.
“Being the orchestra’s manager is like driving a Rolls-Royce because the quality of their musicianship opens so many doors,” she says. “It’s a joy to match the orchestra with venues and collaborators that wouldn’t be possible without its exceptional quality and reputation.”
In recounting his most cherished performances, Amundson’s love for the ensemble shines through, as does the realization that he could cite many, many more unforgettable moments. Performing for a packed audience at Carnegie Hall in 2019 is at the top of the list.
“The students outdid themselves, and the crowd was absolutely electric,” he says. “It felt like the best home concert ever. I’m still pinching myself that we performed for a full house on that historic stage.”
Amundson also fondly recalls the tour to China in 2012, during which he spoke Chinese at each concert. “I spent many hours preparing just a few paragraphs, but the audiences barely let me get through one sentence before breaking into applause, so appreciative were they of the effort,” Amundson says. “Everyone we met welcomed us with such open arms, even asking students for autographs. It was a special tour indeed.”
Another memorable concert took place in 2016 in San Justo, Argentina, on a day the mayor had declared as “St. Olaf Orchestra Day.” The orchestra played to a standing-room-only crowd in a community center. “It was the first time most in the audience had ever heard a live symphony perform. It was a magical experience that will long be cherished,” Amundson says.
Standing on the shoulders of others
Though the St. Olaf Orchestra has flourished tremendously under Amundson’s leadership, he believes the ensemble’s accomplishments stand on the strong foundation of his predecessors, including Beatrix Lien, who expertly shepherded the orchestra’s string program for decades, and Donald Berglund, who led the orchestra with “patience, persistence, and grace” in his 34 years at the helm. The loss of a talented young conductor, David O’Dell, who was hired to succeed Berglund when he retired but who died tragically in a car accident only weeks before the start of his second year, still weighs on the hearts of those who played in his orchestra, says Amundson.
Amundson also readily sings the praises of his colleagues in the Music Department, especially the instrumental faculty, who have been important mentors to orchestra members. “It would be impossible to give them enough credit,” he says. He also lifts up behind-the-scenes staff members who have handled tour and concert logistics so that Amundson and the orchestra can focus on music making.
“My St. Olaf journey has ultimately been more about the people than the music,” Amundson says. “The St. Olaf music community is a shining example of the power of music to deepen and enrich our connections.”
The St. Olaf music community is a shining example of the power of music to deepen and enrich our connections.Steven Amundson
Amundson will continue to conduct the orchestra throughout the 2021–22 academic year, including three performances at the Christmas Festival, a tour to Washington, Oregon, and Montana in early February 2022, and a concert at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis on April 10, 2022. On June 4, 2022, St. Olaf will host an alumni orchestra reunion to celebrate Amundson’s retirement and the continued excellence of the St. Olaf Orchestra program.
Amundson’s colleagues will miss him deeply, Mahr says. “Steve has been an absolute anchor to music making at St. Olaf for so many years,” he says. “His spirit, his energy, and his joy on the podium will be greatly missed.”
Amundson looks forward to more time spent composing, guest conducting, and enjoying new adventures with his family. No matter where life takes him, he will carry the St. Olaf Orchestra in his heart. “I have learned that the music making endeavor is one that opens hearts, fosters community, and helps us be in touch with our emotional and spiritual well-being,” he says. “It’s been both humbling and a tremendous privilege to lead such a fantastic undergraduate orchestra. The past 40 years have flown by, and I’ve cherished the journey!”
Friend and Mentor
During his tenure, Steven Amundson has influenced hundreds of Oles who have become music educators, professors, conductors, and professional musicians, all of whom he is incredibly proud, and who represent one measure of the strength and depth of St. Olaf’s music program.
Countless orchestra alumni are playing professionally, including Micah Wilkinson ’06, principal trumpet, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra; Jelena Dirks ’96, principal oboe, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra; Kari Nostbakken Kettering ’96, cello, Dallas Symphony Orchestra; Kristen Marks Sonneborn ’86, principal bassoon, Naples Philharmonic; Ben Krug ’04, cello, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra; Jon Van Dyke ’97, double bass, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra; Melita Glass Hunsinger ’00, principal cello, Phoenix Symphony Orchestra; Justin Smith ’00, violin, American Symphony Orchestra, American Ballet Theater, and concertmaster, Broadway production of Dear Evan Hansen; Emily Hagen ’00, principal viola, Minnesota Opera Orchestra; Timothy McCarthy ’14, assistant principal trumpet, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra; Angela Waterman Hanson ’03, violin, Minnesota Opera Orchestra and Minnesota Sinfonia; and Patrick Hughes ’84, University of Texas horn professor, chamber musician and soloist with numerous orchestras. Conducting alumni include Jayce Ogren ’01, who has held positions with the Cleveland Orchestra and the New York City Opera; Aron Accurso ’01, a composer and conductor on Broadway; and Travis Cross ’99, conductor of bands at UCLA and a nationally known clinician.