Torkelson was our choir director at USD, and was really great at what he did. He was passionate about beautiful choral music, and never shied away from having us sing liturgical text. His faith was evident in his love for the music he brought out of us, and he was one of the few college associates that we had who was genuinely happy for us when we went into church music as a career.
I was really strongly influenced by Torkelson while at USD and beyond, especially as I got my master's degree in choral conducting.
Last year, we were honored when he ruthlessly hunted us down and asked us to sing in an alumni choir. We went to USD for rehearsals once a month from September until our concert in April. I'm really glad we had a last chance to sing under him again.
Larry's funeral will probably be this weekend, and he's asked the alumni choir to sing a couple of his favorites, "Agnus Dei" by Peter Williams and "Laudate Dominum" by Mozart (we did this song at our wedding).
I bet Larry's loving heaven right about now. He thought there was beautiful music here on earth!
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