Previously founding the St. Olaf Band, professor F. Melius Christiansen formed the St. Olaf Choir in 1912 from the worship choir of nearby St. John's Lutheran Church. After a successful tour of the American Midwest that same year, the choir began planning a tour of the college's cultural homeland, Norway. This 1913 tour included performances in front of King Haakon VII and Queen Maud. In the 1920s, the St. Olaf Choir began touring regularly after a highly acclaimed tour of the East Coast. Subsequent tours, recordings, and radio broadcasts spread the group's fame among the choral community, transforming the Midwest into a hotbed of choral activity.