Fields of Gold from 2011

featuring Heather Masse and the St. Olaf Choir

There is something for everyone on the upcoming slate of shows, including exotic destinations plus a mix of solo shows, trio shows with Heather Masse and Richard Dworsky, the final three 50th Anniversary Shows featuring the full cast plus all your favorites marking 50 years of A Prairie Home Companion, leading into a full-on production of A Prairie Home Christmas. We hope you can join us along the way for some great music, good stories, a few laughs, and many wonderful memories. Ticket info.

Listen to the November 19, 2011, show

This week on A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor, a show originally from November 2011 at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. The St. Olaf Orchestra and St. Olaf Choir team up for “Fields of Gold,” Garrison and Philip Brunelle highlight a few lesser-known Choir pianists, and Heather Masse sings “A Distant Melody.” In Lake Wobegon, exiles return home for Thanksgiving. Listen to the show.

Growing up in rural Maine, Heather Masse sang hymns and folk songs around home with her family. Now based in New Mexico, this New England Conservatory of Music alum is well known as one-third of the Juno Award-winning Canadian trio The Wailin’ Jennys.

The St. Olaf Choir, under the direction of Anton Armstrong, performs with the same choral excellence and artistry listeners have come to expect since the group's founding in 1912 by F. Melius Christiansen, a pioneer of a cappella choral singing in America. Based at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, the 75-voice choir has appeared in major concert halls from New York City to Los Angeles, Scandinavia to China.

Philip Brunelle is an internationally renowned conductor, choral scholar, and performer. He is also the founder and artistic director of Minneapolis-based VocalEssence, one of America’s premier choral arts organizations. His many awards include the Royal Order of the Polar Star from the King of Sweden and Commander of the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit. In July of 1974, Philip appeared on the very first live broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion.

FROM OUR STORE:

“I’m an honest writer, not an inspirational speaker or a sales agent for a seniors’ condo complex, and they believe me when I say old age is a heroic role you’ve been preparing for for decades and now comes the easy part: walking tall, exemplifying wisdom and maturity while maintaining humility while retaining the right to freedom of expression and that includes talking to yourself, and despite your eccentricities and crotchets, being beloved. Belovedness is the point of it all. Why would you want anything less? If you are very very old, of course there are no rules, and you can probably get away with homicide if you choose a truly despicable person to poison and you have a doctor who will testify to your mental instability, but anyway here are some helpful suggestions.”

And so Garrison begins his 23 Rules of the Game, tips on living life to the fullest and why we should all want to keep getting older, better, and wiser. This anchors a full chapter in his recent book Serenity at 70, Gaiety at 80: Why We Should Keep On Getting Older. It’s a great humorous and inspiring take on advancing in years. So grab the book that the Saturday Evening Post described as “a playful yet deeply felt meditation that ought to be a standard in the literature of human aging.” Get the book.

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Garrison proclaims the values he learned as a child, and asks a question at the end of this passage printed on the back of the T-shirt.

I'm a Democrat, I confess,

I went to a public school.

Teachers taught us helpfulness

And to follow the Golden Rule.

Don't push, don't be rude,

Don't boast and brag.

Keep a reverent attitude

When you salute the flag.

Don't mess up the environment,

And above all, do not lie!

Don't you wish we had a President

Who is like that? So do I.

Get the shirt.

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