Seattle Conference - July 2011

 Have you begun to think about summer learning and travel opportunities for 2011? The reality is that now is the time to do at least some initial planning! The conference planning committee is busy planning this coming summer conference in Seattle, WA. The conference web site is being updated continually, including information about the many wonderful sights, sounds and opportunities to be found in Seattle. Consider making it a family excursion! Beginning to plan now can help that to become a reality.

At the conference, you will find a wealth of workshop offerings, including choral, organ, handbell, and worship planning topics. Your ALCM colleagues present the best of their professional experiences, knowledge, and skills - all for your enrichment. Choral music topics with Zebulon Highben, Tom Leeseburg-Lange and Beth Ann Bonnecroy; children's or youth music topics from Rebecca Gilmore, Jim Rindelaub and Eric Whitehill; organ workshops by John Ferguson and Greg Peterson; alternative worship music approaches and planning topics from Mark Glaeser, John Helgen, and Anton Armstrong; worship planning and other scholarly topics by Scott Hyslop, Ann Sponberg-Peterson, Jim Johnson, Nancy Raabe, Aaron Christie, Thomas Keesecker, Donald Nevile, and Mark Lawson.

Church Music Exchange Program in Germany

Emily German

Students at Valparaiso University studying German and organ can take advantage of a new exchange program with the Hochschule für Kirchenmusik in Rottenburg am Neckar. In spring 2010, Emily German (Fort Wayne, Indiana) was the first Valpo student to spend a semester at the Hochschule; while there, she had the opportunity to play a variety of organs, sing with the Hugo-Distler-Chor in Berlin, and take courses and lessons in organ and voice while perfecting her German skills.

The exchange is supported the Henry and June Giebel Scholarship from Valparaiso University; other scholarships are available, as well. If you know students who could benefit from this great program, please direct them to the Valpo website: http://www.valpo.edu/foreignlanguages/german.

LYCNA Singers Travel to Germany 

The Lutheran Youth Choir, founded in 2005 by Philip Spencer, a charter member of ALCM, is inaugurating a new international Festival of American and Global Vocal Music for high school youth, July 27-August 9, 2011, co-sponsored by the ELCA Wittenberg Center and the International YMCA. American and German students will stay for one week in a restored medieval castle near Wittenberg, Germany, singing a variety of American sacred and secular vocal music together. In addition to rehearsals and music workshops, there will be 20 hours of documented mission and community service opportunities, recreation and sightseeing. In the summer of 2012, the festival reconvenes back in the Chicago area for a week of global music, drawing upon the musical resources of that world-class city.

Visit www.lutheranyouthchoir.org or the Lutheran Youth Choir on Facebook for complete information about the 2011 and 2012 festivals. Early discount registration deadline is December 31, 2010. There is limited space available - please register as soon as possible to ensure your participation in this exciting venture.

Augsburg Fortress Music Clinics

There is still time to register for Augsburg Fortress January Music Clinics.

January 15^th

   All Saints Lutheran Church; 6770 N High St; Columbus OH

   Trinity Lutheran Church; 997 E Walnut St; Pasadena CA

   Edmonds United Methodist Church; 828 Caspers St;

       Edmonds WA

   St Andrew Lutheran church; 908 Murfreesboro Rd;

       Nashville TN

January 29^th

   First Plymouth Church; 2000 D ST; Lincoln NE

   Emmaus Lutheran church; 2500 South Volusia Ave;

      Orange City FL

For more information visit us on the Music Clinic webpage or on Facebook

The St. Olaf Choir and Conductor Anton Armstrong are pleased to announce their annual national tour that will feature 18 concerts in 10 states and 17 cities from Jan. 22, to Feb. 13, 2011. The tour includes performances at Omaha's Holland Performing Arts Center and Dallas' Meyerson Symphony Center, and concerts in the capital cities Denver, Des Moines, Lincoln, Topeka, Oklahoma City, Austin and Little Rock.

Tickets for all the tour concerts are now on sale and can be ordered online at stolaftickets.com.

Founded in 1912 at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn., under the direction of F. Melius Christiansen, the St. Olaf Choir is internationally recognized as a creative force behind America's a cappella choral tradition. This winter tour is part of the St. Olaf Choir's countdown to its 100th anniversary, and its program will feature an eclectic program of sacred and secular masterpieces past and present.

Publish Your Business Cards and Support the Seattle Conference 

Place your business card in the "God's People Sing - Seattle 2011" conference book this summer.

How?

Submit 2 business cards and a b/w PDF of your business card (if possible) and a check to ALCM for $50.

Do you have 2 different business cards or an oversized card? Send 4 cards and a check for $85.

Why?

1. It assists with the expenses of the conference.  

2. It helps you make connections with other ALCM members

3. You get a copy of the conference book, even if you can't attend! 

Send your check $50 payable to ALCM with 2 business cards by April 10, 2011 to the Strongsville office (14367 Bennington Dr, Strongsville, OH 44136-8103). Payment must accompany cards; no billing. 

Check out the conference plans on-line at www.alcm.org. You can find all the details - leaders, presenters, workshops, worship, concerts, lodging, registration, etc. 

Trying to Build Your Music Collection?

A retired ALCM member would like to donate or sell her music collection to a Lutheran church musician who is looking to start or expand their library. She would prefer to donate the collection to a church organist or musician who is starting their career. The collection includes organ, choral and instrumental pieces. The ALCM member served Lutheran and Episcopal churches in Upstate NY and Long Island for the past fifty years. There are between five and ten boxes of music. The collection is not indexed. If you are interested, please contact Mark Beese, mark@beese.org, 303-913-8830.

Join us for the day. . .

Join clinicians Peter Mercer-Taylor, Bruce Bengtson, Kathryn Schifferdecker and David Cherwien to explore Mendelssohn and how his music fits the larger context of the church and its music.

Includes services of Morning and Evening Prayer with Mendelssohn's "Hear My Prayer" sung by members of the National Lutheran Choir.

This conference is sponsored by Luther Seminary's Master of Sacred Music program.

When: March 19, 2011

Where: on the campus of Luther Seminary,

        1490 Fulham, St. Paul, MN, 55108

For more information, or to register online, go to