Frederick Melius Christiansen, the son of a Norwegian factory worker, was born in Eidsvold, Norway on April 1, 1871, and emigrated to the United States at the age of 17. He arrived in Washburn,Wisconsin in the winter--cold, hungry, and penniless, but musically-talented. The next several years were critical to establishing his career as a formidable musician.
He studied at Augsburg College and conducted and performed in the Twin Cities area. In 1897, he returned to Europe to study three years at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Leipzig, Germany. From 1900-1903, he taught violin in Minneapolis before accepting an appointment as director of the fledgling music program at St. Olaf College.
In 1911-12 the St. Olaf Choir was founded as an outgrowth of the St. John's Lutheran Church Choir in Northfield. For the next 30 years, Christiansen led the St. Olaf Choir, striving for perfect intonation, blend, diction and phrasing. He saw his contributionto music not as one of genius or inspiration, but one of hard work.
By the time of his retirement, he had been knighted by the King of Norway, had been granted four honorary doctorate degrees, and had been lauded in a book about his life, Music Master of the Midwest. In addition, he was a much sought after speaker and conductor, had composed or arranged more than 600 songs, and had directed his beloved St. Olaf Choir before kings, emperors, and United States presidents.
The legacy of F.Melius Christiansen's musical genius still influences a cappella performances of choirs throughout the country. Generations of concert goers thrill to performances of his choral arrangements. It is the continuing observance and recognition of that noble tradition that we celebrate and remember.
Click here to visit the F. Melius Christiansen Endowment Website.
135th Anniversary Concert
On November 19th, 2006, ACDA of Minnesota produced a concert celebrating the 135th anniversary and legacy of F. Melius Christiansen. Five Minnesota choirs, listed below, performed in Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis for an audience of 5,000.
Augsburg College, Peter Hendrickson, director
Concordia College-Moorhead, Rene Clausen, director
Concordia University-St. Paul, David Mennicke, director
Gustavus Adolphus College, Greg Aune, director
St. Olaf College, Anton Armstrong, director Combined Choirs, Kenneth Jennings, director
Click here to download the FMC 135th Anniversary Concert Program (2Mb PDF)
In addition to the repertoire performed on 2 CDs, of special interest is the DVD which was produced with four cameras. One camera was placed through a hole in the choral shell allowing the viewer to experience the singer's view of the conductors.
