The Gustavus Wind Orchestra
The Vasa and Gustavus Wind Orchestras from the Department of Music at Gustavus Adolphus College will present their final formal concert of the year in Christ Chapel on Saturday, May 14. This performance, conducted by Douglas Nimmo and guest conductor Karrin Melffert Nelson, will begin at 3:30 p.m. with the Vasa Wind Orchestra opening the concert. This performance is free and open to the public.
Saturday’s concert welcomes conductor Karrin Meffert Nelson to Gustavus and to Christ Chapel. Dr. Nelson will join the Department of Music in September and will become the official conductor of the Vasa Wind Orchestra as part of her duties. Karrin holds a Bachelor of Music in clarinet performance and music education from St. Olaf College, a M.M. from Northwestern University in Evanston and a DMA in clarinet performance from the University of Minnesota. She has taught at the St. Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists and the University of Minnesota, and St. Olaf College, Eden Prairie High School, Apple Valley High School, Concordia College, and Northwestern University. As a freelance musician, Karrin performs frequently with the Minnesota Orchestra. Most recently she played in the Minnesota Opera production of Salome and South Pacific at the Ordway.
Saturday’s program will showcase the work both wind orchestras have done over the past year in a varied program that features soloists from within the ensembles as well as vocalists Christopher Hall and Ben Batz. Compositions to be performed are as varied as Prokofiev’s March Op. 99 to Franz Biebl’s Ave Maria to Ron Nelson’s classic Sonoran Desert Holiday.
The Vasa and Gustavus Wind Orchestra’s performance on Saturday, May 14 will begin at 3:30 p.m. in Christ Chapel. The performance will be free to the public.