Jan indeed has spent a lifetime engulfed in music.  She grew up on a farm in northwestern Minnesota where her musical family and her country Covenant Church provided numerous daily/weekly opportunities to sing and play piano and other instruments.  With the training, tools and experiences she received at Concordia College and the University of Minnesota, Jan spent the first part of her music career in public school choral work, the last 27 years of that time at Park High School, Cottage Grove, Minn.  Her high school choirs were often chosen as featured groups at festivals and conventions in the five-state area.  In addition she served her profession as a Minnesota Music Educators Association president and an All-State Women’s choir director.  She was chosen MMEA Choral Director of the Year and received the MMEA Hall of Fame Award.

Jan began her work at St. Andrew’s in 1988 while teaching at Park High School.  The position has become full-time and she now coordinates the youth choir program, conducts two adult choirs and the handbell choir, and is very involved in the Vision Slovakia effort.  Together with Bill Chouinard she shares responsibility for the musical and liturgical flow of the Sunday morning worship services, the St. Andrew’s yearly Music Series, and the coordination of outside collegiate/community music groups who perform in the St. Andrew’s facility.

What really makes Jan unique is the manner in which she approaches her profession and the people that surround her life.  She prefers to direct attention away from herself and for that matter, constantly reminds her choirs that the communication of the text and the beauty of the music should be the collective mission, not the performance per se.  This humility – combined with a strong religious faith, an unending work ethic, a seemingly innate drive to serve and an incredible sense of humor – make up what Jan Gilbertson is all about.  She is a teacher’s “teacher” – a musician’s “musician” . . . an individual who assists her choir members to know, proclaim, live in and serve Christ through music.

The ACDA award is named in honor of F. Melius Christiansen, the founder of the St. Olaf College Choir and the individual responsible for shaping the choral sound that has become a trademark of choirs in our area, and also a major influence on choral sound in the whole country.  In response to receiving this award, Jan stated:  “This award is surprising and humbling.  My work has always been handed to me, as though I had been led to it.  My life has been blessed by wonderful colleagues and wonderful singers.  The verse written by my pastor in my confirmation Bible says it well:  ‘Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.  Colossians 3:16.’”  Congratulations, Jan!