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Another event filled week at Collegeville, as we continue to celebrate 50 years of broadcasting. Tuesday was MPR Day all day long at St. John’s ending with Garrison Keillor’s Gratitude Tour show at Escher Auditorium on the campus of the College of St. Benedict. Cathy Wurzer did an awesome job broadcasting from Brother Willie’s Pub in Sexton Commons. There were archival clips from MPR’s early days and interviews with folks who helped to make MPR great. Alison Young hosted Classical MPR from 10 until 1 PM and The Current’s Host Jill Riley was on the air from Brother Willie’s in the afternoon.

Garrison was on stage at the Escher Auditorium for almost two hours. He entertained a sold out house with stories, starting with the farm house in Freeport where he spent many hours in the upstairs bedroom with an Underwood typewriter trying to craft a story worthy of The New Yorker. He had made a trip to Freeport that day to Charlie’s Café to visit with the folks that inspired his News From Lake Wobegon. The sing-a-long was my favorite part. He even had us sing `Silent Night’, the one song for which I know the bass part well enough to feel like a real Lutheran Choir Member.

The next evening “Bring the Sing” filled the Abbey Church with a blend of voices from all over central Minnesota. G. Philip Shoultz III , who directs VocalEssence, was able to conduct a group of several hundred men and women, most of whom had never sung together before. Choirs from SJU and CSB, along with a chamber orchestra directed by Axel Theimer, and The Saint John’s Boys Choir were part of the performance. Michael Barone, the creator of “Pipe Dreams”, introduced St. John’s organist Kim Kasling. Michael Barone started working for MPR, here in Wimmer Hall, on August 20, 1968. Someday you will be able to listen to this great music online or on your smart phone at www.classicalmpr.org/choral I will be sharing the date and time thru this Friday note when it becomes available.

The APHC show this week is a February 2017 rebroadcast from the Fitzgerald Theater in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Lucius sings “My Heart Got Caught on Your Sleeve” and “How Loud Your Heart Gets”; Brad Mehldau teams up with Chris Thile for “Scarlet Town” and “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright” and he demonstrates a bit of piano improvisation; Tom Papa ponders the news, life as an adult, children, and marriage. Plus: Chris’s Song of the Week, “Valentine’s Day for Parents of Small Children,” and messages from SCAT-3000 — a smart car calibrated for Minnesota drivers — and the Catchup Advisory Board.

Those who live here in central Minnesota will be able to enjoy more choral music this weekend. Minnesota Center Chorale is performing “Oye la Musica” at First Methodist Church in Sartell Saturday evening at 7 and The Great River Chorale is presenting “A Mosaic of Gifts” at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in St. Cloud this Sunday afternoon at 4.

“Run a moist pen slick through everything and start afresh.” Charles Dickens.