SDSU took 68 concert choir members and traveled to Norway and Sweden over Christmas break to spread the art of choral music, experience different cultures, and for a number of members, travel overseas for the first time.
The trip was originally going to cost each member five thousand dollars, but due to assistance from the South Dakota State University Foundation, each choir member only had to pay two thousand dollars each. A gift that choral director Laura Diddle is grateful for.
“They did a major fundraising campaign,” Diddle said. “Many of the people in the community, and alums, that love the concert choir gave to this capital campaign and that is a huge gift to these students.”
The concert choir takes a trip every four years. After returning from Italy in 2019, Diddle started planning a trip to Norway and Sweden. Places she had never been to but knew would be interesting to experience. Diddle had reached out to fellow colleagues and learned that “it’s a really friendly choral environment and the communities really love choral music.”
30 family members joined them on the trip and brought new relationships for some students.
“Since my family came, they made some connections with family today that live in Norway,” sophomore Jacob Aspaas said. “I was able to meet some new family that I had never gotten to see before.”
The choir arrived first in Stockholm, Sweden, where they toured the city and visited the Vasa, a 1628 restored warship. They also traveled to Uppsala, Sweden, which is known to be the fourth biggest city in the country. They toured the city and, despite having one of their tour buses break down, made it on time for their first performance tour at the biggest church in Scandinavia, known as Uppsala Dmkyrka.
Upon having another performance at Sofia Kyrka or Sofia Church in Stockholm, the choir then boarded a flight to Oslo, Norway for the second part of their Scandinavian tour. With a seven-hour time difference and less sunlight, the choir members got to see how the communities lit up their streets as Diddle said, “a canopy of lights.” During their time in Oslo, they also got to celebrate New Year’s Eve.
“That was really a lot of fun for the kids,” Diddle said. “Some of them went to the opera, some of them went to a musical. They went downtown to the harbor because there were beautiful fireworks. The bitter cold had not found us yet, but it was just starting to snow and there were a lot of people downtown. It was a beautiful experience.”
Spending a few more days in Oslo, the choir got to experience taking a dinner cruise, seeing the fjords, visit the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet, as well as having the opportunity of visiting a variety of different history and art museums.
“One of my favorite memories of the tour occurred during one such moment in Oslo,” said sophomore McKenzie Hofer. “The choir stood on the steps of the University of Oslo’s law school, just across the street from Norway’s royal palace, and sang my favorite piece: ‘How can I Keep from Singing’.”
After Oslo, the choir continued on their tour to Lillehammer, which was the site of the 1994 Winter Olympic Games. In Lillehammer they were able to perform with a men’s community choir, Klang, and performed at Lillehammer Kirke.
“It was so nice and so wholesome,” Aspaas said. “The crowd there really loved our set. It was an awesome feeling and I’ll remember that for a while.”
After Lillehammer, the choir made stops in Flam, Gudvangen, Voss, and then their final destination in Bergen. Many of the choir members filled their free time with sightseeing, ice skating, taking a plunge in the ocean, as well as going night skiing.
“Each stop on our tour was so unique, and I think that’s why I never really stopped falling in love with each new place we visited,” said Hofer.
After a thirteen-day trip, the choir originally planned on flying from Bergen to Amsterdam to Minneapolis. But when they reached Amsterdam, their flight was canceled due to their planes having technical issues. The choir was split up into three groups, some flying to Los Angeles, some to Detroit, and some having a layover in Atlanta, before meeting back up in Minneapolis.
“It made it really difficult because all the students were put on different flights, and we tried to meet in Minneapolis to get on a bus and come home,” Diddle said. “We came through it and I’m grateful to the administration for communicating with the academic community that we had experienced travel difficulties and would be back two days after the first day of class.”
Diddle hopes that the students were able to learn more about the importance and opportunities through international travel. She also hopes the students were able to appreciate Scandinavian culture and music.
“Even with the language barrier and the difference in culture, the music was a common bridge,” Diddle said. “We were really able to speak to each other and appreciate each other because of our art.”