Featured Musicians

Lutheran Summer Music (LSM) is the nation’s premier faith-based music academy for high school students. In addition to advanced musical instruction and numerous performance opportunities, LSM offers students the chance to form an intentional community, living together for four weeks on the campus of Valparaiso University. Since 1981, this unique and immersive program has guided the lives of thousands of young musicians, many of whom credit LSM as the starting place for their future careers and vocations.

LSM was established to celebrate and extend the rich musical and liturgical heritage of the Lutheran church. Its founders believed that by providing high-quality training and performance opportunities to young musicians they could cultivate a lifelong love of classical and sacred music, thus preserving these art forms for generations to come.

Thanks to generous financial support from Mark and Kathy Helge, participants will have the opportunity to attend workshops and performances by three internationally renowned guest artists: vocal artists Calmus and Cantus, and organist Martin Jean.

Based in Leipzig, Germany, Calmus has been hailed by international audiences for their blend of sound, precision, lightness and wit. Shaped by the centuries-old tradition of German school choirs, their extensive discography boasts compelling renderings of music from the Renaissance, Baroque, and Romantic eras. In addition, Calmus has commissioned new music as part of collaborations with the Raschèr Saxophone Quartet, Hamburger Ratsmusik, and the Frankfurt Radio Bigband. Teaching and workshops are part of their regular schedule, both at home in Leipzig and on their travels.

Known for its trademark warmth and blend and innovative programming, Cantus performs more than 60 concerts each year both in national and international tours, and in its home of Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN. Cantus has performed at Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, UCLA, San Francisco Performances, Atlanta’s Spivey Hall, and more. Integral to the Cantus mission is its commitment to preserve and deepen music education in the schools. Cantus works with more than 5,000 students each year in masterclass and workshop settings across the country. The ensemble is the recipient of three Chorus America awards, including the 2016 Dale Warland Singers Commission Award (presented in partnership with the American Composers Forum), the Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence, and the Education Outreach Award.

Organist Martin Jean has performed widely throughout the United States and Europe and is known for his expansive repertoire. He was awarded first place at the international Grand Prix de Chartres in 1986 and at the National Young Artists Competition in Organ Performance in 1992. In 2001 he presented a cycle of the complete organ works of Bach at Yale, and his compact discs Charles Tournemire’s The Seven Last Words of Christ and The Complete Symphonies of Louis Vierne, both recorded in Woolsey Hall, have been released by Loft Recordings. He serves as director of the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, as professor of organ at Yale University, and previously served on the board of Lutheran Summer Music.