On Thursday, February 6, Luther College’s Nordic Choir presented the annual homecoming concert after returning from tour. This year’s tour and homecoming concert featured a special piece for Rhett Einck, a local 6-year-old boy battling cancer.
Through a partnership with the Sing Me a Story Foundation, a piece was composed by Nordic Choir vocalist Tyler Belanger (‘25). The piece is based on a story written by Rhett and his three siblings.
The story follows the family’s dogs, Maverick and Fin, as they run away one day and get into troubles and mischief. Ultimately, the dogs are reunited with their family for a happy ending and a lesson about running away.
To accompany this song during the homecoming concert was a series of illustrations done by the siblings. The crayon drawings done in a comic book style were projected behind the choir as they performed in front of the audience. Among the audience was Rhett and his family who experienced the song for the first time that night.
Student composer Tyler Belanger was first approached by Director of Choral Activities & Associate Professor of Music Andrew Last with the opportunity to compose this piece over the summer. He worked with the Sing Me a Story Foundation and Last to complete the song, perform it for the family and include it on tour. Belanger spoke about the opportunity to have his work broadcasted like this and what it meant to him as a current student.
“It meant a lot that I would have a piece that would be on tour and exposed to such a large audience,” Belanger said. “Everything I’ve written prior to this has been contained to the Luther College campus, so I’ve never really left Decorah in terms of my compositional career so it was special to have it on the road.”
Belanger also talked about what the opportunity for this story to be transformed and highlighted meant for the family.
The unique piece also featured a solo from Mira Melander (‘27). Melander commented on what made the piece so special to perform.
“I’m very sentimental about the innocence of childhood,” Melander said. “That kind of pure, unfettered, joy. I feel like that really comes out in this song. It’s zany and wild and clearly from the mind of a child and I just thought it was so beautiful. The text really did speak to me because of the joy and the whimsy of it. It was really, really meaningful to perform it not only all over the Midwest but also for the family.”
Belanger’s composition for the choir also featured text from the Montpellier Codex. Belanger spoke to how the addition of the Latin strengthened the power of the story’s message.
“The inclusion of that Latin text was to have it fit better into the tour set,” Belanger said “But also I think it still does tie the story together, making it more about relief and gratitude and praise in the end.”
The Sing Me a Story Foundation is a nonprofit organization that is focused on uplifting children going through dark times through the power of song. They connect children and their stories to conductors and composers like this on a regular basis as part of that mission.
The piece was performed all along the Nordic Choir tour route. Due to the choir’s participation in the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) conference in Texas this year, the choir shortened its normal Midwest tour length. The choir will perform this special collaboration piece at locations on their way back from Texas in Arkansas and Kansas.
