Solveig Holmquist of Western Oregon University named president-elect of the northwestern division, ACDA

President Scott Peterson sent  this note to members of the NW board (dated February 28, 2008)

"I have just been notified by Hilary Apfelstadt, National President, that the National Executive Board has approved Solveig Holmquist as the new President-Elect-Designate of the Northwestern Division.  She will take office on July 1st as President-Elect when Richard Nance assumes the Presidency."

"Congratulations to Solveig!  She will be a great leader in our Division and I offer her my congratulations." (Scott Peterson)

NW ACDA once again had the good fortune of presenting two well-qualified candidates for this office in Scott Anderson of Idaho, and Solveig Holmquist. Although the voting in the past has often been very close, for the first time in our history we had a tie vote. ACDA national officials recommended both candidates be contacted to see if they would agree to another vote of the membership. Scott Anderson declined. The national board, in a recent meeting, simply approved the election of Solveig Holmquist.

Solveig's response:

One of the reasons we love living in the Northwest is that we cherish our individualism, stubbornly refusing to fit into boxes. We shouldn't be surprised, then, that we in the NW Division have managed to achieved a "first" in ACDA history:  an absolute tie in the voting for NW President-Elect Designate! Who knew such a thing could happen? Well, we might have predicted SOMETHING out of the ordinary in this most interesting General Election year.

As you know, the tie between Scott Anderson and me has now been broken, and I am honored and humbled to have this opportunity to serve you and ACDA.

And her official bio:

Professor of Music Solveig Holmquist, in her twelfth year as Director of Choral Activities at Western Oregon University. Her teaching duties include conducting the Concert Choir and Chamber Singers, providing musical direction for the yearly musicals in collaboration with the department of Theater/Dance, and teaching Conducting, Choral Methods, and Choral Literature. As a certified adjudicator, Holmquist is in demand at numerous clinics, festivals, and contests throughout the Northwest; guest conducting appearances include the Spokane Festival of the Arts, the Colorado Western Region Honor Choir, and the Anchorage High Schools Choral Festival. She made her fourth appearance conducting on the Carnegie Hall stage in February 2007, with WOU Chamber Singers as the core ensemble.
           
Dr. Holmquist is the founder and Artistic Director of the Festival Chorale Oregon, a civic choir in its 28th season which has developed a reputation for musical excellence in Oregon and in the international community.  Festival Chorale Oregon has enjoyed performing tours through Germany, France, Scandinavia, Austria, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Spain. At home, FCO regularly performs major choral/orchestral works for Willamette Valley audiences.    
           
Dr. Holmquist received her musical training at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, where she sang with the renowned St. Olaf Choir; at Western Oregon State College; and at the University of Oregon.  Her professional affiliations include the American Choral Directors Association, serving as President of the Oregon chapter from 2003-2005 and also as a Repertoire & Standards Chair on the Northwest Board. She was President of Oregon Music Educators National Conference from 1992-1994, and has filled appointments on many committees for both state and national organizations. 

Since 1985, Holmquist has been an auditioned member of the Oregon Bach Festival Chorus, Helmuth Rilling, conductor, and in 1991 was selected to the festival’s conducting master class.  The Oregon Bach Festival Choir won the 2000 Grammy for Best Choral Performance for its premiere recording of “Credo” by Polish composer Krzystof Penderecki; the OBF Choir was subsequently invited to perform the work at the World Symposium of Choral Music in the summer of 2002. In the summer of 2006, the OBF choir and orchestra began a 3-year project which will conclude in 2009, recording the late Haydn masses for Hanssler-Verlag. 

Holmquist was involved in church music for thirty-seven years, most recently serving for fifteen years as Music Director at First Methodist Church in Salem, where she was organist and led a sequential music program that included nine choirs, a summer music camp, youth musicals, a concert series, and a weekly music column.  An accomplished organist, she has been called upon to play dedicatory recitals on several organ installations in the area.

Dr. Holmquist and her husband Jon live in Salem. They have six grown children and ten grandchildren.