Weston Noble

Weston H. Noble (November 30, 1922 – December 21, 2016) was an American music educator and conductor.

The Ervin and Phyllis Johnson Professor of Music Emeritus at Luther College since 2005, he was best known for his 57-year tenure on the faculty as conductor of the Nordic Choir from 1948 to 2005 and the Luther College Concert Band from 1948 to 1973. He served as guest director for over 800 music festivals in all three media, choral, orchestral and wind, spanning four continents.

Following retirement from Luther in 2005, he engaged in a series of guest professorships at sister Lutheran colleges in the Midwest: artist-in-residence at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where he taught in the music department and conducted the Carthage Choir; visiting professor and interim conductor of the Wartburg Choir at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa; and guest conductor of the Augustana Choir at Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Weston Henry Noble was born and raised on a farm located just west of Riceville, Iowa to parents of English ancestry. Later, he was confirmed in the Free Methodist Church and received his early education in a country one-room schoolhouse until the eighth grade, afterward attending the local Riceville High School. Like many young Iowans with an interest in music at that time, Noble played in the high school band, sang in the choir, and played clarinet solos at state music contest. He first demonstrated his talents when taking piano lessons at the urging of his paternal aunt, Ruby (Noble) Dunton, and came to master the clarinet, organ, and piano as well.

Graduating from high school at the age of 16, his original intention was to enroll at The University of Iowa, then the largest and most prominent institution of higher learning in the state. Through the influence of his father, Merwin Henry Noble, Weston enrolled instead at nearby Luther College in Decorah in 1939. Majoring in history with studies in music (not yet a major at the college), he quickly drew the attention of the music faculty due to his demonstrated talents in conducting, which were sparked, according to Noble, by the last minute request of Schola Cantorum director Theodore Hoelty-Nickel to lead a rehearsal of the choir in his absence. In his second year, he began leading rehearsals for the ensemble. He completed his student teaching at the local Decorah High School.

...
Wikipedia