It was another full day at the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians conference here in Portland which started with a Morning Prayer service, followed by a plenary session. It’s the plenary sessions at ALCM which differentiate these conferences from AGO (American Guild of Organists) conventions. Our plenary speaker for these three days is The Rev.… Read More Day Three at ALCM Portland
One of the unique and most enjoyable activities of Association of Lutheran Church Musician (ALCM) conferences are the meaningful worship services, and this morning’s service was certainly on a par with other conference services. That meant hearing the thrilling sound of a whole congregation of organists and choirmasters singing to creative hymn playing, an inspired homily… Read More ALCM Opening Eucharist
No, silly, we didn’t hear Bach on a dinner cruise — the first day at the Region 4 conference of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians (ALCM) started with a Bach Cantata vespers at St. James Lutheran Church in downtown Portland, followed by a dinner cruise on the Willamette River. We registered at St. Michael’s… Read More Bach and a Dinner Cruise
Yesterday we were in Tacoma, WA, and took in an all-Bach organ recital at Christ Episcopal Church, where we heard Tomoko Miyamoto from Ferris University in Yokohama, Japan, play selections from Bach’s Clavierübung III, the German organ mass. The tracker organ is by John Brombaugh and is in a lovely acoustic. We found out about the concert through… Read More Bach in Tacoma
This afternoon I attended an organ masterclass with Martin Jean, formerly of Valparaiso University, and now teaching at Yale University. You can read about all his accomplishments by reading the Wikipedia article by clicking here. In case you haven’t been to one, a masterclass has several students who in this case, volunteer to play a… Read More Organ Masterclass
Was it a hymn festival? Was it a concert? Last night’s presentation with the National Lutheran Choir and David Cherwien was equally both. If you have gone to a “typical” hymn festival, you know that it is usually an opportunity to hear the organist showcase his or her improvisational skills in creating interesting introductions and accompaniments to… Read More Not an ordinary hymn festival
Today was our first full day at the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians conference in Valparaiso, IN and it began with a Morning Prayer service in which several of the opening hymns were taught in song leader style, with no sheet music or words to read, just listen and repeat. I found the opening dialog… Read More Worship in a Wireless World
It’s been “Old Home Week” at Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, IN, considered by many Lutherans to be their “Mecca,” where we are attending the Biennial Conference of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians. It’s only the first day, and we have reconnected with many of our Lutheran colleagues from all over the country. I was especially… Read More Mecca for Lutherans
We are now flying to Chicago, on our way to Valparaiso, IN where we will attend the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians Biennial Conference. Carl and I have been members of this organization since 1987 when they held their first national conference in Seattle. We were privileged to be presenters at that conference, where we… Read More On to the next!
We are home for just four days before we take off again for California and Indiana on Friday. I will be attending a convention for the American Guild of Organists (AGO) in Bakersfield, CA and the national biennial conference of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians (ALCM) in Valparaiso, IN. We had just walked in… Read More Sneak preview