Collection on Augustana College musical organizations

Musical organizations have been active on the campus of Augustana College since the late 19th century. One of the earliest organized choral groups was the Lusciniola Society, a male chorus dating from 1873. The establishment of the Conservatory of Music in 1886 helped ensure a constant stream of incoming students primarily interested in music. This collection contains limited amounts of material relating to five different musical groups: the Lusciniola Society, the Chapel Choir, the Lutherman Male Chorus, the Augustana Male Quartet, and the Koto Ensemble.

Very little is known about the Lusciniola Society besides what can be gleaned from the constitution, roll, and minutes contained in this collection. It was a male choral group that had as many as 18 members. All of the materials contained in this collection are written in Swedish.

The Chapel Choir was first mentioned as the English Chapel Choir (to be distinguished from the Swedish Chapel Choir) in the 1893-1894 Catalogue of the Augustana College and Theological Seminary. The name was shortened to "Chapel Choir" in the following catalogue. According to its 1911 constitution, the object of the Chapel Choir was "to provide a musical selection at all regular Sunday evening Chapel services," and "to study churchly choir music." The choir was open to both male and female students.

The Lutherman Male Chorus was formed in 1902 with the name "Mission Chorus." In 1908, the name was changed to Lutherman Male Chorus. The choral group consisted of 20-24 male students. According to its constitution, the group had two main objectives: "to enhance student male chorus singing at Augustana College" and "to furnish song at the meetings of the Foreign Mission Society." The group was active between January and April of 1921 and met again in October 1921 to reorganize. A committee was appointed to find a leader for the chorus. Apparently, this committee was unsuccessful: the final entry in the secretary's book dated 26 May 1922 states that the chorus had been inactive for the entire school year. At this time, the secretary book was left at the library to be kept until a time that the Lutherman Chorus might be revived.

The Augustana Male Quartet was formed in 1923 and quickly became highly regarded. In the summer of 1924, the quartet set off on its first annual concert tour, which consisted of 62 engagements in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. The following year, the group made an extensive tour of the Midwestern United States and Canada with a total of 90 concert engagements. Although it is not clear when the group disbanded, no mention of the quartet is made in the yearbooks or College catalogs after 1928. It is evident from this small collection that the quartet made at least one other tour in the summer of 1936, though the group might not have had continuous membership.

The Augustana Koto Ensemble was founded in the 1980s. The group performed traditional and contemporary music on the koto, a Japanese stringed instrument. The ensemble played concerts on the Augustana Campus and conducted tours to St. Louis, Missouri, and Berea, Kentucky.