The Song of Luke, an Oratio written by Cyprian, will be performed by the Augustana Choir, together with John Pennington and conducted by Dr. James R. Johnson, this Dec 3 and 4th.

  The Augustana Choir was founded in 1921 and chartered by the faculty of Augustana College to "serve God, the Church, and our school" through choral music. In the words of the choir's founding conductor, Dr. Carl Youngdahl, the choir would "perform a cappella and could thereby appear in the smallest of churches as well as the largest and our concert would be a sermon in song." Today, The Augustana Choir continues to bring sacred choral music of the highest caliber to people around the region, nation, and world.

     For over eighty years The Augustana Choir has taken its mission most seriously and its traditions have been upheld and nurtured under the tutelage of four conductors: Dr. Carl Youngdahl, Dr. Arnold Running, Dr. Olaf Malmin, and their current conductor, Dr. James Johnson. Long recognized as one of the preeminent a cappella choral ensembles, the choir is noted for the honesty of its presentation and its recognition of the importance of maintaining Lutheran choral traditions. Their critically acclaimed reputation is international in scope. Annually touring the United States, they also regularly embark on overseas performance tours. Over the past ten years they have appeared in international concert venues on six tours, sharing their music with the people of France, England, Norway, Austria, Wales, Germany, Ireland, and Italy. In 2004 the Choir returned to Ireland for a two week concert tour of "Peace and Reconciliation," and in May and June of 2006, presented a tour entitled "I Can Tell the World" in the southeast African country of Tanzania. The international venues for the choir in 2008 were Sicily, the Amalfi coast, Capri, Assisi and Rome.

     The members of the choir are auditioned from the student body of Augustana College and study in all academic majors. These 72 singers are devoted to bringing their "sermon in song" to audiences anywhere in the world, from the churches of the American prairies to the cathedrals of Europe. To be the inheritors of such a wonderful legacy gives the choir a profound pride in being able to continue the strong choral traditions of the colleges of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. It is the choir's sincere hope that in hearing their music, one might realize the truth held in the motto of Augustana College: Verbum Dei manet in aeternum (the Word of God endures forever).