Waldorf College welcomes new director of choral activities

Waldorf College’s choir will get a boost this fall as Dr. Adam Luebke, the new director of choral activities, joins the music department.

“I am looking forward to working with the students. When I came for my interview I really enjoyed connecting with them,” said Luebke who will also serve as an assistant professor of music. “I think it is a wonderful tradition to be part of.”

Originally from Pennsylvania, Luebke is interested in continuing the rich a cappella tradition at Waldorf. (Waldorf College has the second oldest collegiate a cappella choir in the nation.) He would also like to add music of major composers, other cultures and some contemporary music.

Before coming to Waldorf, Luebke taught music and directed choirs at Northland College in Wisconsin. He recently completed his doctorate in music education and choral conducting from Florida State University. Dr. Luebke earned his master’s degree from Westminster Choir College in New Jersey and a bachelor’s from St. Olaf College in Minnesota.

He also spent a few years in Lexington, Kentucky, where he taught high school choral music and worked as a church musician.

One of the reasons Luebke was attracted to Waldorf is because its choir is modeled after St. Olaf College’s choir. “Waldorf is similar to St. Olaf’s Lutheran foundation. It is a small college with a strong music department,” he said.

Luebke will enrich Waldorf’s music department with 20 years of experience in choral activities. He first started singing with the American Boychoir with which he toured the Czech Republic, Poland and across North America.  He also traveled throughout North America and Europe with the St. Olaf Choir, singing at cathedrals, concert halls and churches of all kinds.

Despite of a history with big cities, Luebke and his wife Sarah, both are looking forward to life in Forest City.

“I love being able to walk to work,” he said. “It’s bit of a shift to be in a small community, but we are enjoying getting to know our neighbors and we have been pleased by how welcoming and warm everyone is.”

 

Courtroom drama at Waldorf College to raise money for Winnebago County Historical Society

The Sunday night jury pronounced Jake Studor guilty of assault. A new verdict from the residents of Forest City, different from the one declared over 100 years ago.

Community members get to decide the fate of Studor in a theatrical representation of the 1900 Murder Trial of Jake Studor , a fundraiser organized by the Winnebago County Historical Society.

Directed by Dr. Bob AuFrance , associate professor of theatre at Waldorf College, the play involves 16 community members in the cast. “While six of them have been in movies before, some have never even acted in front of a live audience,” AuFrance said, who plays the judge.

The idea for the play originated before Puckerbrush Days last year when Riley Lewis, the president of the historical society, approached Dr. AuFrance about the fundraiser. Lewis, who had heard about other cities doing re-enactments of historical cases, wanted the community to produce one on the trial of Jake Studor.  

In the original case, Forest City resident Jake Studor was charged with attempted murder after he shot the local sheriff. In the re-enactment, the audience/jury can either pronounce him guilty of attempted murder, or assault or acquit him as innocent.

The play required actors to research their characters since the whole performance was designed without a script. The cast dug up local as well as statewide newspapers to learn the details of the case.

“A lot of information was missing in the local newspaper,” said Dr. AuFrance who found some new facts in the archives of Des Moines and Cedar Rapids newspapers. “Everyone involved in the process had to become historians.”

He was very pleased with the response the cast received on Sunday night.

“The audience was very appreciative. Just the support from the community is amazing,” he said.  “People I don’t know ask me how the play is going or when is the next show.”

Family members and community supporters filled up the 164 seats in Salveson Hall’s ballroom last Sunday. Dr. AuFrance is hoping the play will also attract visitors to Puckerbrush Days and Winnebago’s Grand National Rally to the shows being held at 7 p.m. Thursday and 1:30 p.m. Saturday.  As of Thursday afternoon, every ticket to every performance had been sold.

Play tickets cost $10 each, with all profits benefitting the Winnebago County Historical Society. In addition to ticket sales, the society plans to collect money through sales of popcorn donated by Brad Buffington, the owner of Iowa Gold Kettle Korn.

“The Winnebago County Historical Society hopes to raise about $4,000 through the fundraiser,” said Cindy Carter, the secretary of the society.

The money the society collects through this fundraiser will be used to remodel the mansion annex into historical library and general operating costs for the mansion house.

Three-Time Olympian to Headline Waldorf College Cross-Country Camp

Three-time U.S. Olympian Jim Spivey will share his love of distance running with high school athletes at the cross-country camp to be held at Waldorf College July 20-23.

Spivey, who was the head coach of men’s and women’s cross-country and track and field at the University of Chicago from 1997-2001, will speak at two sessions on Friday, July 21. In his first session he will talk about his experiences in the Olympics and being an international-level athlete. In the second, he will throw light on the training that he did to get there, specifically the 1600 and 3200m training.

“I think many runners and coaches are curious about what it takes to get to the highest level of running and Jim has been to that level,” said Coach Matthew Boyles, the camp director. “It is not often that an Olympian visits the area, so I hope local runners and coaches will take advantage of this opportunity.”

Several high school and college coaches will also conduct sessions that will focus on improving runners in cross-country and longer track races.

Registration forms for the camp are available on Waldorf’s athletics website (www.waldorfwarriors.com) and the fee is $200.  A discount will be offered if three or more runners from the same high school attend together.

For more information about the camp please call 641-585-8142.