For many years, the Wagner College Choir has been our musical ambassador, visiting church congregations all over the country and letting people see — and hear — what real, live Seahawks look and sound like!
We have recently located three long-playing vinyl recordings of the choir under director Sigvart J. Steen recorded in 1955-56, 1964 and 1968.
Dr. Steen directed the Wagner College Choir from 1949 until his death on Dec. 20, 1968. You’ll find more about Dr. Steen’s life here. The Sigvart J. Steen Award in Music is presented each year by the faculty of our Music Department to a student exhibiting excellence in choir performance.
Identifying the dates for these recordings required a little historical detective work.
For the 1955-56 album, we found an exact match between the choir photo on the LP jacket and the group photo in the 1956 Kallista.
For the 1964 album, we located an advertisement for the “just released!” choir LP in the Homecoming 1964 program; the game against Drexel was played on Oct. 17.
And for the 1968 album, we identified the only year in which both student soloists named on the album cover (Brett Murphy and Lynn Schrader) were both enrolled at Wagner College; one was a freshman, the other a senior.
You will find all three albums embedded below — for free play — along with scans of the front and back covers of the albums. You can also go directly to the Wagner College Soundcloud account and listen to each album as often as you like.
And for information on upcoming Wagner College Music Department events, including choir concerts, visit the Music Department calendar.
And to connect with Wagner College Choir Alumni, join their Facebook group.
But first, before you listen to the albums, enjoy this short home movie from the 1955-56 Wagner College Choir tour, stored for many years in the college’s archives and digitally transcribed this summer:
Wagner College Choir 1955-56
Wagner College Choir 1964
Wagner College Choir 1968
