South Dakota Symphony pulls 'Giants in the Earth' opera out of the shadows

South Dakota Symphony pulls 'Giants in the Earth' opera out of the shadows

One of the first people Delta David Gier met after being named music director of the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra in 2003 was Art Husboe, founder of the Center for Western Studies at Augustana University.Husboe pulled Gier aside at a dinner party and gave him a copy of “Giants in the Earth,” Ole Rolvaag’s classic 1925 novel depicting the struggles and sacrifice of Norwegian pioneers in the Dakota Territory.“If you want to understand people he…