Oratorio educates, inspires

A collaboration between St. Cloud State University and the College of Saint Benedict/Saint John's University yielded incredible results on April 25 & 26. The choirs and orchestras of both universities, in conjunction with the Cantabile Girls' Choir and the St. John's Boys' Choir presented an oratorio by Minnesota composer Stephen Paulus, To Be Certain of the Dawn. The concert was presented at both campuses to full houses. The event was a monumental one in the history of Central Minnesota and did much to educate the young people inovlved about the Holocaust and to engage them in discussion about prejudice and injustice.

Choir remounts opera

The St. John's Boys' Choir presented an encore presentation of their world premiere commissioned opera, The Star Gatherer. This year's production introduced the work to a number of schools in the Central Minnesota area. The run closed with a gala reception and performance on Saturday October 13. Composer Stephen Paulus was in attendance and was thrilled with the new production. The boys will be performing another major Paulus work later this year, To Be Certain of the Dawn with the choirs and orchestras of Saint John's University, the College of Saint Benedict, St. Cloud State University and the Cantabile Girls' Choirs.