Choir Director
Musician

Dr. Weston Noble

The late Robert Shaw likened him to Bobby Knight and Vince Lombardi. But what do a basketball coach, a football coach, and a choir conductor have in common? Tenacious recruiting. Weston Noble is famous for calling high school musicians around the country and talking to them about attending Luther. Long before long distance plans at 10 cents a minute, Noble had his own Watts line that he used to build a music program. After beautiful music and an inimitable recruiting program, Noble is perhaps best known for his commitment to a clean environment. He can be seen regularly traversing the Luther College campus, picking up trash and generally keeping things in order.

Weston Noble was born into a Methodist home and attended Luther College as an undergraduate almost by accident. He was all set to attend the University of Iowa when an admissions counselor from Luther College paid a visit to the Noble home. The result: Weston Noble headed for the small Lutheran college in Decorah, Iowa. As an adult, he joined the faculty at Luther and became a Lutheran himself. In his more than fifty years of service to Luther College, he has touched the lives of countless students. To Noble, a consummate teacher as well as a paragon of conductors, his relationship to his singers is as important as any performance. While he is of such renown that he can work with the professional musicians of his choice, he has spent his life primarily with amateurs, showing them that they were capable of creating more beauty than they ever dreamed possible.

Under Noble’s capable baton, the Luther College’s Nordic Choir has performed all over the country and around the globe. Noble himself has conducted over 775 concerts, clinics, and festivals in his more than 50 year career. Today Weston Noble receives the Wittenberg Award from the Luther Institute in honor of his myriad achievements. In 1994, though, he received his own award when he was given the first Weston Noble Award for lifetime achievement in choral art, bestowed by the North Central Division of the American Choral Directors Association. Such is his life, his music, and his enormous contributions to choral arts.