DATE

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

GORDON MOE, manager, The Concordia Choir

(218) 299-4886 /

AMY KELLY, Media Relations director

(218) 299-3642

COMPOSER OF GRAMMY WINNING CHORAL CD

TO CONDUCT HIS CHOIR IN DETROIT LAKES

The recording “Life and Breath: Choral Works by René Clausen” received the GRAMMY for Best Choral Performance last year. Now, Clausen will bring The Concordia Choir from Moorhead, Minn., to perform in Detroit Lakes, Minn., at 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 16, 2014, at Holy Rosary Catholic Church, 1043 Lake Avenue, Detroit Lakes. The concert is sponsored by Holy Rosary Catholic Church and Friends. Tickets are available online at ConcordiaTickets.com, by calling (800) 838-3006 or at the door.

The concert, part of the choir¹s 15-day, 2014 national tour of the Pacific Northwest and Hawaii, includes performances in Washington, Oregon, Hawaii, Minnesota and North Dakota.

Clausen, a world-renowned composer and conductor conducts the 79-voice a cappella choir and is the artistic director of the Emmy® winning Concordia Christmas Concerts seen by audiences of 18,000 each year and televised nationally through PBS (Public Broadcasting Service). Clausen has written more than 100 commissioned compositions for ensembles across the world including the St. Olaf Choir and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. On the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 national tragedy, he conducted his composition “MEMORIAL” in Lincoln Center, New York City – a piece originally commissioned by the American Choral Director’s Association.

A February 2010 performance and recording session with the Grammy Award-winning King’s Singers and multiple performances on Garrison Keillor’s “Prairie Home Companion” radio show highlight the choir’s world-class quality.

The concert program includes the regional premiere of the new Hans Zimmer choral composition “Aurora.” Zimmer composed the film scores for the Batman trilogy, “Pirates of the Caribbean,” “Superman – Man of Steel,” “Sherlock Holmes,” “Inception” and others. Zimmer wrote this choral piece as his artistic response to the movie theater shootings in Aurora, Colo.

Touring nationally and internationally since 1918, the choir has performed in nearly every major hall in the United States and continues to affirm its reputation as one of the nation’s finest a cappella choirs. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Paul J. Christiansen, son of F. Melius Christiansen and conductor of The Concordia Choir for 49 years.

Concordia College is a four-year liberal arts college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America offering more than 60 majors, including 18 honors majors and 12 pre-professional programs.

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Editor’s note: Download photos at TheConcordiaChoir.org