ANNUAL ST. OLAF CHRISTMAS FESTIVAL WILL BE PERFORMED AND LIVESTREAMED FROM ORCHESTRAL HALL.
THE NORTHFIELD COLLEGE AND ITS ANNUAL HOLIDAY CONCERT IS KNOWN FOR ITS SCANDINAVIAN LUTHERAN ROOTS.
BUT THOSE LEADING THE MUSIC ARE BECOMING MORE DIVERSE.
REPORTER KAOMI LEE VISITED HER ALMA MATER TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE ST. OLAF ORCHESTRA'S NEW CONDUCTOR.
>> THE St. OLAF ORCHESTRA TOURED THE UPPER MIDWEST THIS FALL, BESIDES THE STORIED MUSICALITY, THERE WAS A NEW FACE ON THE PODIUM.
HIS NAME IS CHUNG PARK.
>> I AM THE CONDUCTOR OF THE St. OLAF ORCHESTRA AND THE ORCHESTRA AT St. OLAF COLLEGE.
EVERY CONDUCTOR WANTS TO WORK WITH THE BEST POSSIBLE ENSEMBLE THAT THEY CAN, AND I THOUGHT IF I COULD BE IN A LIBERAL ARTS SETTING AND WORK WITH A TREMENDOUSLY GIFTED ORCHESTRA, I COULD HAVE MY CAKE AND EAT IT TOO.
♪♪ >> PARK'S LAST JOB WAS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA.
HE SAYS HE FIRST LEARNED ABOUT St. OLAF THROUGH ITS CHOIR.
>> THE CHRISTMAS FESTIVAL S WORLD FAMOUS, I THINK IT'S THE FOURTH OR FIFTH MOST LISTENED-TO CHRISTMAS PROGRAM IN THE WORLD.
>> AND THE LONG MINNESOTA WINTERS WEREN'T A PROBLEM.
>> I HAD SPENT A YEAR IN NORTH DAKOTA, AND I KNEW THAT THE UPPER MIDWEST IS FULL OF WARM-HEARTED PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN A COLD PLACE.
>> PARK SUCCEEDED STEVEN AMONDSON AFTER 41 YEARS.
HIS HIRE MAY HAVE BEEN SURPRISING.
THE COLLEGE IS STEEPED IN THE TRADITION OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH AND NORWEGIAN FOUNDERS.
CHUNG IS KOREAN AMERICAN, BUDDHIST, AND WAS RAISED BY IMMIGRANT PARENTS IN CHICAGO.
>> I THINK THAT ONE OF THE MOST VALUABLE THINGS THAT I BRING TO THE TABLE IS THAT I'VE BEEN ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN A LOT.
I KNOW WHAT IT FEELS TO NOT BELONG.
I KNOW WHAT IT FEELS TO BE IN A PLACE WHERE YOU DON'T FEEL LIKE YOU BELONG.
AND BECAUSE OF THAT, I AM FIERCELY COMMITTED TO MAKING SURE THAT MY STUDENTS DON'T FEEL THAT WAY.
♪♪ >> FOSTERING SENSE OF BELONGING FOR BIPoC FACULTY AND STUDENTS IS SOMETHING St. OLAF HAS GRAPPLED WITH.
SIX YEARS AGO, A ACIAL NOTE LEFT ON THE CAR OF A BLACK STUDENT SPARKED A CAMPUS PROTEST.
THAT NOTE WAS LATER DISCREDITED AS A HOAX, BUT THERE WERE OTHER REPORTS.
>> WE HAD A BIG RACIAL UPRISING IN 2017.
IT SHOOK THE CAMPUS.
>> ANTON ARMSTRONG ADE WAVES WHEN HE BECAME THE St. OLAF CHOIR'S FIRST BLACK CONDUCTOR 34 YEARS AGO.
>> JOHN LEWIS SAID, YOU KNOW, GOOD WORK, YOU DID GOOD WORK, YOU KNOW, IT WAS MESSY WORK, AND OUT OF THAT CAME A LOT OF THINGS.
>> THE COLLEGE MADE COMMITMENT TO ANTIRACISM, INCLUDING PLAN FOR EQUITY AND INCLUSION.
FACULTY AND STAFF FORMED A TASK FORCE TO CONFRONT STRUCTURAL RACISM.
HOWEVER, NOT BEFORE TWO BLACK FEMALE PROFESSORS QUIT IN 2020 CITING RACIAL BIAS.
>> I WOULD SAY FOR THE MOST PART, I HAVE BEEN FORTUNATE TO THRIVE IN THIS PLACE.
I CAN'T SAY THAT ALL PEOPLE OF COLOR HAVE DONE THAT IN THIS PLACE.
BUT I'VE WORKED HARD.
>> ARMSTRONG INTRODUCED REPERTOIRE THAT WASN'T ALWAYS UNIVERSALLY LIKED.
FOR INSTANCE, HE MIXED IN A SOUTH AFRICAN FREEDOM SONG ALONG WITH THE TRADITIONAL HYMNS.
>> I DID THINGS SLOWLY BECAUSE I'D COME IN LIKE A BULL IN A CHINA SHOP, I WOULD NOT BE HERE NOW.
I UNDERSTOOD THIS PLACE WELL ENOUGH O NOW AND RESPECT IT, TO KNOW THAT WE COULD BE BETTER THAN WE ARE.
BUT IT WENT SLOWER THAN I HAD HOPED WHEN I CAME HERE IN 1990.
BUT I'M SEEING SOME OF THE FRUITS F THAT LABOR.
>> THIS YEAR THE COLLEGE NAMED HENRY DORN AS THE CONDUCTOR OF THE St. OLAF BAND.
JOSEPH JEFFERSON WAS HIRED AS THE COLLEGE'S JAZZ CONDUCTOR.
THE COLLEGE HAS A NEW PRESIDENT, SUSAN RUNDLE SINGER, THE FIRST WOMAN IN ITS HISTORY.
THERE ARE STILL JUST 16% FACULTY OF COLOR.
ARMSTRONG SAYS HAVING COLLEAGUES WHO GET HIS LIVED EXPERIENCE IS INVALUABLE.
>> IT TOOK A LONG TIME, BUT FINALLY I HAVE COLLEAGUES WHO LOOK LIKE ME AND WILL BE HERE LONG AFTER I LEAVE.
♪♪ >> IT'S BEEN ONE EAR SINCE Dr. CHUNG PARK HAS TAKEN OVER AS CONDUCTOR OF THE St. OLAF ORCHESTRA.
AND HE'S ALREADY MAKING HIS MARK.
HE HAS PLANS TO INTRODUCE MORE MUSIC BY LIVING AMERICAN COMPOSERS.
>> EVERY CONDUCTOR HAS THEIR OWN PRIORITIES, AND I HAVE MINE TOO.
I WANT THE ORCHESTRA TO PLAY WITH THEIR HEART ON THEIR SLEEVE, I WANT THEM TO PLAY WITH TREMENDOUS EXPRESSIVENESS, I WANT THEM TO TAKE RISKS, I WANT TREMENDOUS CLARITY IN TERMS OF ARTICULATION, I WANT THEM TO PLAY IN TUNE.
MOSTLY I WANT THE ENSEMBLE TO REALLY REALLY RELISH WHAT THEY'RE DOING.
THAT'S THE MOST IMPORTANT THING OR ME.
I THINK IF THE MORALE IS HIGH, THEN YOU CAN GO ANYWHERE.
>> AND HE WANTS STUDENTS TO KNOW THAT HOWEVER THEY IDENTIFY, THERE'S A PLACE ON THE PODIUM.
>> IT'S A HUGE RESPONSIBILITY, BUT IT'S VERY IMPORTANT THAT THE STUDENTS SEE THAT THERE'S A PATH FOR THEM.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7sa7SZ6arn1%2BrtqWxzmiqrWWfoa6necKoo6Wdl5p6sL7CoZysrKKWenV8k29waA%3D%3D