Choral director Ellefson ends 19-year run

Earlier this year, Dr. Randi Von Ellefson announced that, after 19 years of work at OCU, he would be retiring at the end of the school year.

Dr. Ellefson currently directs the Ad Astra Women’s chorus and the chamber choir, as well as teaching conducting and graduate courses, and became Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities in 2004, which is the same year that he became the artistic director of Canterbury Voices of OKC.

He graduated from Texas Lutheran University, the University of Minnesota, and Arizona State University, as well as being a founding member of the National Collegiate Choral Organization, where he received the Honorary Lifetime Member Award in 2017.

In an interview about his time at OCU, as well as his plans for retirement, Dr. Ellefson said that throughout his time with the university the choirs have gone through several changes, explain that when he first arrived here that a new choir was added.

He said that, “the choral program has become really stable and that works well within the context of a program that is known for it’s music theatre and opera.”

“It’s been great to be here and see the development of the School of Music – when I first came here I was in the chapel,” Ellefson said.

Ellefson explained that his office was in the chapel and that, “the choirs rehearsed in a corner room in the chapel” before all the building for the Wanda L. Bass School of Music was finished.

Ellefson also said, “I think there’s a lot of the great plans for the future to continue to make OCU and excellent university, but to continue to keep the arts an important part of the school,” and that, “the fine arts aren’t just the school, that the university has got a lot of great things going for it.”

“I hope for the best for it, for it to continue to grow and flourish and become known as a unique place to go to school, not just another private, church related school, but a really significant place where people have a lot of personal interactions with faculty and students get a lot of personal attention,” Ellefson said.

Dr. Ellefson said that, “the most rewarding part of being at this university is developing good friendships with other faculty members and having colleagues that you actually like to work with.”

He pointed to fellow choral director, Professor Tony Gonzalez, university organist Dr. Melissa Plamann, as well as conductors Dr. Matthew Mailman and Professor Jeffery Grogan and other faculty as these rewarding relationships.

Dr. Ellefson said that there were three big concerts that came to mind when asked about directed at OCU: Hector Berlioz’s “Requiem,” Leonard Berstein’s “Mass,” and Benjamin Britten’s “War Requiem.”

“All four choirs and orchestra combined for a huge production for just OCU,” Ellefson said about Hector Berlioz’s Requiem.

“A combination between OCU Theatre and Music and Canterbury Voices mounted a fully staged Oklahoma premiere of the Bernstein Mass that was a huge undertaking, and it was a big success and Jamie Bernstein, the daughter of Leonard Bernstein, came for the performance and was very complimentary,” Ellefson said about the production of Leonard Bernstein’s Mass.

“Another combination with OCU and the Canterbury Voices, not staged, but a big concert was the Benjamin Britten, The War Requiem, because that’s a huge piece, calls for a full Chamber Orchestra, three big soloists, and a huge chorus,” Ellefson recounted about Benjamin Britten’s “The War Requiem.”

He explained that the performances for “The War Requiem” and Mass were performed at the Civic Center, while Requiem was performed at First Presbyterian Church.

Ellefson also said that, “there’s been a lot of smaller things that stand out too, but those are the big ones that took a lor of extra effort and aren’t your normal just stand and sing concerts.”

Dr. Ellefson explained that, “annually, one of my favorite moments is always Christmas Vespers, when we would do that big concert,” explaining that originally, “we were first in the Chapel, and then we moved to the First Presbyterian Church because we could seat many more people.”