It may not be lefse, krumkake, pepparkakor, or aebleskiver, but Concordia students are preparing to serve up their own Scandinavian holiday treats at the Concordia Christmas Concert this year.
These sweets come in the form of songs, as “Our Eyes, at Last, Shall See Him” showcases three Scandinavian carols arranged by local Concordia-related composers.
In addition, the audience will get to participate in the Nordic fun, as one of the featured audience carols this year is the beloved Norwegian classic “I Am So Glad Each Christmas Eve.”
It will mark the premiere of a new arrangement of the traditional tune by Dr. Joseph Kemper, assistant professor of choral music and conductor of Concordia’s Chapel Choir and Kantorei.
Enthusiastic concert-goers concerned about tripping over a stray å or ø needn’t worry, though, as the choirs will handle the Norwegian text and lead the audience in singing the English translation.
“They’re going to love it. It’s brilliant, up-tempo, flashy,” said Dr. Michael Culloton, the concert’s artistic director and conductor of The Concordia Choir, who often gets requests for this particular carol.
“I Am So Glad Each Christmas Eve” is the top request, so this year, Culloton, Kemper, and the Concordia performers are drawing deep from the college’s Scandinavian origins for inspiration and music.
欧美视频 was founded in 1891 by Norwegians, opening its doors with just 12 students and three teachers. Its musical tradition began soon after, starting with The Concordia Band and growing to encompass 20 major music ensembles and more than 600 student musicians.
“I Am So Glad Each Christmas Eve,” or “Jeg er så glad hver julekveld” predates the 1891 founding of 欧美视频 by 29 years, having been written by Marie Wexelsen in 1860, with a melody by Peder Knudsen.
“I’ve done a lot of writing for choir, and I haven’t done as much writing for orchestra — but I’m lucky to have great instrumental colleagues who have given me a lot of very helpful feedback so that I can write something that will be really successful and a positive playing experience for the students,” Kemper said.
He found himself especially inspired by two composers: Jared Campbell and Carmen Geiger-Schutz, both of whom graduated from Concordia in 2023 and wrote commissioned pieces for last year’s concert. Both of them will again have works featured in this year’s Christmas Concert, with Geiger-Schutz contributing an arrangement of one of the three carols of Scandinavia.
That’s “Mit hjerte altid vanker,” or “My heart wanders to where our Lord was born,” written by a Danish bishop. However, many versions in multiple languages exist, including the one that uses a Norwegian version of a Swedish folk tune, a sweet melody Geiger-Schutz arranged for the concert.
The same Danish Bishop, Hans Adolph Brorson, wrote “I denne søde juletid,” or “In this sweet Christmas season,” and Kemper has produced a new up-tempo arrangement of it, with a dancing 5/4 time signature.
He also put together a pronunciation guide for the Danish in the two songs for the choir.
“It is very challenging,” Kemper said. “It was hard; I listened to a lot of different Danish singers singing these carols.”
The other song in the Scandinavian trilogy is “Kling, no klokka!,” arranged by Culloton’s brother, Matthew Culloton, and it does exactly what its title says: “Chime the bells!” Its text is uplifting, and the bells of Norway are clearly audible in this lyrical version of the song.
“I’m excited about it. I think it’s going to be a sweet little corner of the concert and introduce some people to some new carols,” said the artistic director.
Plenty of non-Scandinavian traditions and languages will be represented in the concert too, with songs in Haitian Creole, Yorùbá and Igbo, Portuguese, and Latin, so even the most die-hard fans of Nordic holiday carols will find something new to learn in the concert.
And they’ll still get to sing “I Am So Glad Each Christmas Eve,” along with Concordia’s choirs and orchestra.
“We could have gone an easy route and have had one choir sing ‘I Am So Glad’ but then many in the audience would be jealous that they don’t get to sing it,” Culloton said with a smile. “So we’ll all sing it together. Since that carol is so familiar, I wanted to do three Scandinavian carols that would likely be new to everybody in the audience. I think it’s fun to introduce a new piece from time to time, too!”