A must-hear concert for choral music fans: Concordia College’s famous choir makes a tour stop in Fresno
By Donald Munro
One of the nation’s most acclaimed collegiate choirs is stopping in Fresno as part of a big northwestern U.S. tour.
The Concordia College Choir performs 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 14, at Shaghoian Hall. (Tickets are $100 for dinner and concert, $30 concert only, free for students.) The ensemble is directed by Michael Culloton (pictured above). I caught up with him by phone as he traveled by tour bus from Oregon to California. Here are five things to know from our conversation:
1. The choir has 62 singers.
In an ensemble with such a sterling reputation, you might expect all of the students to be music majors. Only half of them are. The rest are a variety of majors, from political science to chemistry. But all the singers are required to take voice lessons.
“It takes hard work on a daily basis,” Culloton says.
Every week, 700 private music lessons are given on the Concordia campus.
Why is Concordia so well known for its choirs?
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“I think it’s a combination of vocal abilities singing music that excites audiences,” he says.
2. The Concordia tour has always been a big deal.
In the 1950s and ‘60s, back when the legendary Paul J. Christiansen – who led the choir for 50 years – brought the singers on tour, they’d hit the road for 30 days.
That time frame has been cut back a bit to 17 days. But the tour is still a large undertaking. This year’s northwestern U.S. tour has wound through Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, Washington and Oregon before hitting California.
3. Culloton is a Concordia grad.
He follows in the footsteps of some great conductors. One of them, Rene Clausen, was on the podium the last time Concordia sang in Fresno, in 2012. Culloton became director of choirs in early February 2020, just before Covid. Only now has touring felt normal again.
Still, the musicians are taking precautions against the type of upper-respiratory infections that can swoop through a choir and ruin a tour. By agreement among the students, they’re masking on the bus, and there’s even a retired campus nurse who’s making the trip with them.
4. The program includes a commissioned piece.
Written by Marques Garrett, “Perfect Love” has been received enthusiastically along the tour, Culloton says.
Another highlight: a set of works Craig Hella Johnson’s “Considering Matthew Shepard.”
J.S. Bach, George Oldroyd and Lucy Hirt are among other featured composers.
5. Carol Maul will be there.
Years ago I wrote about Maul, a longtime Fresno arts supporter, as Concordia’s biggest “super fan.” She’s worked hard to bring the choir to Fresno, and she’s a frequent attendee at Concordia’s concerts in other locations, including its home city of Moorhead, Minnesota. (Her husband, Ken, is a pretty big fan as well.)
Last year, Culloton came to Fresno on a scouting mission for the tour and to check out Shaghoian Hall. (Which he loves.) Carol Maul was there to show him around.
“She’s one of our great, great supporters throughout the country,” he says.
