WOLD, ELLIOT R. (b. 1930)

Elliot R. Wold, (born January 31, 1930, Barron, Wisconsin) became one of Wisconsin's renowned choral conductors who has inspired thousands of musicians to carry on the tradition of quality vocal and choral music in churches, schools and professional ensembles. He graduated from Barron High School in 1948, attended Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota for his Bachelor of Music degree and served in the Army Band playing trumpet at Fort Riley, Kansas from 1951-1953. Additional post-graduation work was done at Indiana Unversity at Bloomington, Illinois, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois and at the Unversity of Wisconsin-Madison from which he earned a Masters degree in Vocal Performance in 1956. He began his music teaching career at Luther College, Decorah, Iowa (1956-1962) followed by one year at Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota.

 

In 1963, Elliot joined the faculty at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls where he served as department chair from 1969-78 and again from 1994-1997 during his 42-year tenure which culminated in 1998. He directed the UW-River Falls Concert Choir and Chamber Singers, and taught private voice, choral conducting, and vocal and choral pedagogy. Elliot Wold had been in great demand as a choral clinician and had guest conducted many choral festivals at high schools and universities throughout the USA and in Taiwan, Republic of China. He is a past State Chairman of the American Choral Directors Association.

 

Under Wold's direction, the UW-River Falls Concert Choir has earned recognition as one of the top collegiate choirs in the midwest for its enthusiastic musicality and rich vocal sound. Under his direction, the UWRF Concert Choir performed 13 international tours, including Canada, Japan, Taiwan, Western European countries, Scotland and England. Since his retirement from the music department in 1998, Wold continues to direct the UWRF Alumi Choir which has performed on 8 international tours to Austria, France, Germany, Poland, Switzerland, Hungary, Italy, Croatia and the Czech Republic. In his spare time, Mr. Wold enjoys composing, woodworking, fishing, and spending time with his wife Jeanne, a former voice teacher, with whom he shared a life of music. They have one son, Dag Wold, who also sang in the UWRF choirs. Since 2010, his choral arrangements sung on his choirs' tours to supplement his choirs' repertoire are available through Alliance Publications.