A Cappella Choir Tours Pacific Northwest on Spring Break Trip

by Morgan German

Concordia’s University A Cappella Choir toured the Pacific Northwest, including Idaho, Oregon, Utah and other states, on their biennial spring break tour March 2-13.

The University A Cappella Choir has alternated spring break tours with Concordia’s Symphonic Band since current conductor and Director of Choral Activities Dr. Kurt von Kampen arrived in 1998. The choir has toured all over the Unites States.

“I try to choose places that have expressed interest in hosting the A Cappella Choir,” von Kampen said in an email interview. “Over the years, I have accumulated a large file of churches who have invited the choir to perform. Some of our connections are alumni and parents of current students in the choir.”

The choir performed a variety of religious and secular songs at each of their tour stops, including hymns in English (such as “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” and “Just a Closer Walk with Thee”) as well as many Latin pieces.

“I am constantly searching for great choral music. It is very time consuming, but necessary if the group is going to perform at their best,” von Kampen said.,

Von Kampen said the concerts are not just for entertainment.

“I want to find music that is theologically sound, because our choir exists for reasons beyond why most collegiate choirs exist,” von Kampen said. “Our performances are part worship, part witness, part educational, and part entertainment.”

One of the pieces, a Lenten hymn titled “Sing My Tongue,” was sung in a setting composed by senior University A Cappella Choir member Megan Sparling.

Another piece was based on the poem “Stars.” The choir used wine glasses filled with different amounts of water to play notes at various times during the song.

“The sound has been described as ethereal and mysterious,” von Kampen said. “The glasses add a sense of majesty and awe as we contemplate the heaven.”

The glasses added a challenge to the preparation and performance of each concert. This is the first time the choir needed to travel with a crew, who unpacked, filled, tuned and put the fragile crystal stemware into place, then poured out the water and carefully packed up the glasses after the concert.

The choir arrives well before the concert to set up risers and instruments and to rehearse before the concert starts.

“With 68 students, it’s a pretty big deal,” von Kampen said. “We want to run this like a professional operation. We want to put Concordia in the best light possible.”

This was some students’ first time touring over spring break with the University A Cappella Choir.

“It was a really good experience to get to go on a long choir tour for the first time because it provided lots of opportunities to have conversations with other members of the choir that I didn’t know well before the trip,” freshman Hannah Davis said. “We got to share our music with others and got to see other parts of the country that we hadn’t been to before.”

Choir members participated in other activities during the day before they had to get ready for the concerts.

“My favorite stop on the tour was Larimer State Park because the morning after our concert in Fort Collins, Colorado, we got to go hiking for a few hours up in the mountains,” Davis said.

The University A Cappella Choir concluded its tour on March 20 with a home concert at St. John Lutheran Church.