Search - Various, St Olaf Christmas Festival :: Awaken Our Souls, O God of Hope

The first St. Olaf Christmas Festival was a Christmas program for the college community planned and directed by F. Melius Christiansen, founder of the St. Olaf music department and the St. Olaf Choir, in 1912. Involving both choral singing and worship, the first festival reflected the same outgrowth of Christian conviction that the festival continues to celebrate today. Now under the artistic direction of Anton Armstrong, the St. Olaf Christmas Festival involves the five conductors and nearly 500 musicians from the magnificent St. Olaf Orchestra and five of the college's choirs - the St. Olaf Choir, Chapel Choir, Manitou Singers, St. Olaf Cantorei, and Viking Chorus. Over 16,000 students, alumni/ae, and friends of the college attend the four performances given on campus in early December, and thousands of others tune in to public television and radio broadcasts across the country.