Teri Larson

Teri Larson - Class of 1980

After graduating with honors from Thomas Jefferson High School in 1980, Teri took her outstanding musical and academic talents to St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN where she became the section leader and principal percussionist in the St. Olaf Band.  Teri continued to expand her levels of expertise in acting, directing, writing, teaching, and accompanying.  She’s been cast in roles such as, Glinda, Marion the Librarian, and Baroness Von Schrader.  She has conducted numerous ensembles including the Chamber Choir of St. John’s University, the Concert Choir of St. Cloud State University, The Minnesota Center Chorale, The Women’s Choir of the College of Saint Benedict..  She has conducted world premiere performances of Mona Lyn Reese’s “Uvacharta Bacharim,” and Stephen Paulus/Michael Dennis Browne’s “To Be Certain of the Dawn” at the Basilica of Saint Mary, Minneapolis, where she has served as the music director  since 1994.  The Basilica Magazine regularly features articles by Teri, her latest, “Together for Peace: Monks of Gyuto Monastery Share Their Faith” in the 2007 summer issue.  Her teaching has involved high school and elementary students in a clinician capacity, and adults in workshop settings related to music ministry and choral techniques.  As an accomplished pianist she has accompanied for opera, choirs, and services.  Her Cathedral Choir and Cathedral Choristers have performed on stage with the Minnesota Orchestra, the Minnesota Chorale, and the Minnesota Boychoir, creating a professional CD under the BIS label, Osmo Vänskä, conductor. Three other compact disc recordings have been produced featuring her Cathedral Choir which has toured Italy and Europe and the United States.

Teri has been honored with multiple awards:  1980 – John Philip Sousa Band Award, and as the Thomas Jefferson Outstanding Senior Musician; 1984 – she was the senior soloist at St. Olaf playing the Creston Marimba Concerto; 2003 – she was named an Honorary Member of the American Guild of Organists, Arrowhead Chapter; 2001 & 2005 –  the Basilica Cathedral Choir, under her direction, was selected to perform at the State and National ACDA Conventions. Recently the Cathedral Choir was asked to join The Singers: Minnesota Choral Artists, under the direction of Matthew Culloton in a weekend celebration of the music of Morton Lauridsen, with the composer present. She is currently serving on the Board of Directors for Choristers Guild, a national organization promoting children singing in the worship setting. Teri was the 2009 recipient of the Thomas Jefferson High School Fine Arts Hall of Fame award.