St. Olaf Choir to tour South Africa this summer
This summer the St. Olaf Choir, conducted by Anton Armstrong ’78, will tour South Africa.
It’s the choir’s first international tour since 2019 and the first time any of the college’s touring ensembles have performed on the continent of Africa.
“Ever since I assumed leadership of the St. Olaf Choir in 1990, I have wanted to take the ensemble to the continent of Africa,” Armstrong says. “I have had the privilege of hearing choirs and music from South Africa, especially through the World Choral Symposium. This country has a rich choral tradition grounded in their folk and native cultures, and I knew this was a place we could take the choir to both learn and share our own music.”
“I have had the privilege of hearing choirs and music from South Africa, especially through the World Choral Symposium. This country has a rich choral tradition grounded in their folk and native cultures, and I knew this was a place we could take the choir to both learn and share our own music.”
St. Olaf Choir Conductor Anton Armstrong ’78
The St. Olaf Choir tour of South Africa is the second trip abroad that will be completely cost-free for St. Olaf musicians thanks to a newly established endowment. In 2019 St. Olaf received a $4.2 million gift from Louis and Mary Kay Smith to create an endowed fund to support student travel costs for international music ensemble tours, and the college provided matching funds. Their gift built on an endowed need-based scholarship established by anonymous donors.
With these new funds, all students in the St. Olaf Choir will travel on tour throughout South Africa cost-free, further reducing financial barriers for many students and increasing access to international opportunities. The St. Olaf Band was the first ensemble to benefit from the fund, when students traveled cost-free across Japan in 2023 as part of a tour that spanned six cities.
The St. Olaf Choir has a strong tradition of touring internationally, most recently performing throughout Norway in 2019 with the St. Olaf Orchestra, and in Japan and South Korea in 2017. The 2024 tour will consist of seven concerts from Johannesburg to Cape Town, and feature collaborations with some of South Africa’s most renowned choirs and musicians. These groups include TUKS Camerata, conducted by Michael Barrett; Quava Vocal Group, conducted by Sabelo Mthembu; the Drakensberg Boys Choir; and more.
“Traveling internationally provides us with an opportunity to hold a mirror to ourselves — to learn from others, see different aspects of ourselves and how we view our own experience in the world,” Armstrong says. “Our students will be deeply impacted by their experiences in South Africa, and in turn will share the beauty of their music, delivering a message of hope and faith.”
Along with rich music exchanges and concerts, members of the St. Olaf Choir will also experience local museums and historical memorial sites, opportunities to experience nature with hikes, horseback rides, and safaris; cultural exchanges with local schools; and more. In advance of their departure, the choir has attended several educational sessions about South Africa with St. Olaf Professor Emerita of Social Work and Family Studies Mary Carlsen ’79, who led multiple J-term international trips to the country, along with current St. Olaf students from South Africa.
Ticket information is available here.
The 2024 St. Olaf Choir South Africa Tour Itinerary:
May 30, 2024 • 7 p.m.
Musaion Auditorium, University of Pretoria
Pretoria, South Africa
With TUKS Camerata
May 31, 2024 • 7 p.m.
Linder Auditorium, Wits University
Johannesburg, South Africa
With Quava Vocal Group
June 2, 2024 • 3 p.m.
Holy Cross Anglican Church
Soweto, South Africa
June 5, 2024 • 3:30 p.m.
Drakensberg, South Africa
Featured guests of the Drakensberg Boys Choir
June 12, 2024 • 7 p.m.
Endler Hall, Stellenbosch University
Stellenbosch, South Africa
With Amici de Lumine
June 13, 2024 • 7 p.m.
Baxter Theatre, University of Cape Town
Cape Town, South Africa
With the University of Cape Town Choir
June 14, 2024 • 7 p.m.
Hugo Lambrechts Auditorium
Cape Town, South Africa
With the South African Youth Choir