This special is the seventh in a popular series of PBS holiday concerts that have featured the St. Olaf Choir. The Christmas concert commemorates the centennial of Norway's independence and the cultural roots of St. Olaf College, founded in 1874 by Norwegian Lutheran immigrants. Singing in the majestic, 900-year-old Trondheim Cathedral was a highlight for the internationally known St. Olaf Choir, which has performed in prestigious music venues around the world since its founding in 1912 by F. Melius Christiansen, a Norwegian immigrant. Christiansen established the choir's distinctive style of a cappella singing, a tradition carried on today by artistic director and conductor-and St. Olaf College alumnus-Anton Armstrong. |