Mission:
Gather community, support the arts and delight the spirit.
We gather the community through our concert series and outreach programs, support the arts through music education, workshops and performance opportunities for emerging artists; and delight the spirit through outreach performances at prisons, nursing homes, hospitals and hospice centers.
History:
For over 13 years, Augustana Arts has had an active concert series, hosting choirs, soloists, orchestras and instrumentalists from across the nation and abroad.
Since its incorporation in 1997, Augustana Arts has expanded its outreach including:
- subsidized music instruction to children who qualify for free lunch programs
- workshops and presentations in local public schools
- private tuition for piano, voice and all band instruments
- partnerships with professional and semi-professional arts organizations
- free performances in retirement homes, hospitals, hospice centers
More than 7,000 audience members will participate in Augustana Arts' activities during the course of the 2010 - 2011 season, with performances ranging from the international acclaimed a cappella vocal group, VOCES8, to the Matt Savage Trio - back by popular demand. Matt Savage is an 18-year old amazing gifted jazz pianist, composer and improviser. The St. Olaf choir, considered one of the finest college a cappela choirs in the U.S., will also be a part of our concert season.
The Musica Sacra Chamber Orchestra, under the auspices of Augustana Arts, performs regularly in the annual concert series as well as engages in collaborations with other performing organizations.
Augustana Arts offers ticket donations to more than 2,000 individuals with mental, physical or developmental disabilities over the course of each season, and we are proud to partner with ArtReach to offer hope and inspiration through the performing arts.
If you have not attended an Augustana Arts performance, come along and give it a try. There is something on the schedule for most everyone, and remember that the concert ticket that you purchase helps bring the magic of music to the lives of those who may not otherwise have an opportunity to experience it.
David Rutherford, Music Director of the Musica Sacra Chamber Orchestra
David Rutherford is an award winning musician, broadcaster and educator with degrees in Double Bass Performance and Music Education. As an educator, he has taught music from the elementary through the college level, and was honored as a National Teacher Fellow by the National Symphony Orchestra/Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. As a bassist, David has performed extensively with orchestras throughout the West, appearing as Principal Bass with the Cheyenne Symphony, Idaho Falls Symphony and the Las Vegas Symphony; Asst. Principal Bass with the Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra, Ft. Collins Symphony, and even with Musica Sacra Chamber Orchestra.
David is also the Music Director for the Pikes Peak Philharmonic in Colorado Springs. Founded the Snake River Chamber Orchestra in Idaho as well as an experimental orchestra in Denver called UnStaged. He is also an award winning broadcaster, heard weekday mornings (and also on Sunday morning for Sacred Classics) on KVOD, Colorado Public Radio's Classical Music Service at 88.1FM in the Denver Metro area.
Board of Directors:
Wes Munsil, Ph.D., President, Ex-Officio member of all committees
President, Lexonics Inc.
Art van Dyck, Vice President, Chair of the Education Committee
Owner of business – professional commodities speculator, fund manager, risk consultant to the dairy industry
Howard Jacobsen, Treasurer
Senior Vice President, The Bank of Denver
Lana Farrington, Secretary, Member of the Artistic Direction Committee
Paralegal for 30 years – now retired
Richard Larson, Board Director, Artistic Direction Committee Member and Board Development Committee
Choral Director for Kantorei Chorale
Cindy Lindeen-Martin, DMA, Board Director, Chair of the Artistic Direction Committee
Minister of Music and Organist, Augustana Lutheran Church
John Pederson, Board Director, Member of the Board Development Committee
Senior Pastor, Augustana Lutheran Church
Gloria Shanstrom, Board Director, Chair of the Marketing Committee
General Manager, Colorado Theater Guild
Meg Morrison, Board Director
Client Account Manager, Morrison & Foerster LLP
Eric Thompson, Board Director, Chair of the Resource Development Committee
Emergency Physician – Carepoint, P.C.
Tom Virtue, Board Director, Member of the Artistic Direction Committee
Editor, High Noon Entertainment
LeEtta Choi, Board Director
Children and Youth Choral Director
Gabriele Korndorfer, Board Director
Marsha A. Temple, Member of the Exec. Committee, Staff liaison to all committees
Executive Director, Augustana Arts