Association of Lutheran Church Musicians

April 1, 2022 e-newsletter
“Could it be that we are called for such a time as this?” – Jonathan Rundman (All Creation Sings 1003)

We are entering year three of a raging pandemic. We have endured political turmoil and a divided nation and world. We have seen change at a rate faster than ever. We have had to adapt and exercise great flexibility and creativeness in keeping our very vocation alive. Ours has not been an easy road through it all.

But could it be that just maybe we were called to this vocation because we are able to navigate such a time as this? First, know that you are not alone. We have all endured and learned the unknown over these past years. We have leaned on each other. We have been creative. We have come together in marvelous ways that might never have happened without a pandemic. Your voice may have helped someone in the organization in visible ways or maybe in ways unknown.

Aren’t we lucky that ALCM exists and provides such a network? I really do think that the value of our wonderful organization has been magnified. As we close our journey to the cross this Lenten season, I hope that you can pause and reflect on how ALCM might have already helped you throughout the crisis or, if you haven’t yet had that benefit, tap in.
Contact your fellow members if you are struggling and need advice, help or just an ear to listen. This brings to mind the story of Queen Esther, who reminds us to lead with bold courage and strength and to use our voices.

Take advantage of all the benefits of being a member of this organization. It very well could be that ALCM has been called for such a time as this.

Kevin Barger
ALCM President
Come to Valparaiso!

Have the past 2+ years of church music and worship uncertainty left you feeling adrift, not quite certain how to get back on track? Are you looking for some very practical learning opportunities this summer? Then you must come to Valparaiso in July! Specifically designed to enhance your existing skills and introduce you to new ones, this conference focuses almost entirely on the practical aspects of church music and worship leadership. It's a perfect opportunity for both musicians and pastors to spend a few days enjoying good worship, good fellowship, and good ideas. You'll have a chance to rub elbows with individuals well-known in worship and music circles--and a few new ones as well.

Still not convinced? Check out the list of workshops and group learning sessions. Hear two premier music groups in concert, and participate in a hymn festival led by Martin Jean celebrating the 40th anniversary of Lutheran Summer Music. Scholarships are available (see below) and there are reduced rates for more than one person registering from the same congregation or household. Much additional information is available on the conference website. Please join us!


Conference Scholarships Are Available!

Scholarships to the 2022 ALCM Conference at Valparaiso University are available to current university and seminary students and to church musicians who have graduated within the past five years. Each scholarship award covers registration, dormitory housing, transportation, and meals as well as a one-year membership in ALCM.

Apply now—scholarship applications will be accepted through April 15. Scholarship recipients will be notified by early May.
2022 Webinars
Webinars in 2022 are offered in three separate series (spring, summer, and fall) each containing three webinars. Each of the three series may be purchased individually for $25 for ALCM members and $50 for non-members or as a full-year webinar package at $60 for members and $120 for non-members. Registration for the full-year package includes automatic registration for all nine webinars throughout the year.

Registration at any time during 2022 will give access to the upcoming webinars in that series as well as recordings of the webinars which are completed. The 2022 webinars will revert to the regular price of $25 members/$39 non-members per webinar on January 16, 2023.

All webinars are on Fridays at 2:00 pm Eastern.
ALCM Friday April Webinars
Concert for the Human Family:
Building Bridges in Uncertain Times
Friday, April 1 - 2:00 pm Eastern

Kory Caudill and Wordsmith discuss the process of designing a concert series focused on Becoming Beloved Community and racial reconciliation. Topics will include blending genres during the recording process, collaborating with local diocese to maximize outreach, and helping communities navigate the conversations inspired by the music.

See registration link below.
Kory Caudill
Nashville based recording
artist, record producer, and
co-creator of the
Concert for the Human Family
Wordsmith
Baltimore based recording
artist, songwriter,
and featured artist in the
Concert for the Human Family
TuneUp: A Way to Recruit Singers by Teaching Them to Match Pitch
Friday, April 29 - 2:00 pm Eastern

Frustrated that you can’t get more people to sing in your adult choral groups? You have all the resources you need to solve this problem sitting in your congregation every Sunday morning. They are the people who can’t match pitch but would love to sing in your groups. TuneUp may be the answer. TuneUp gets adults to leave their psychological “baggage” at the door and guarantees that people who can’t “carry a tune in a bucket” will leave singing and feeling good about themselves. This session offers ways to recruit people to TuneUp as well as useful techniques to get them to quickly and easily match pitch.
Todd Carrico
Former Director of Music Ministry
Faith Lutheran Church, Glen Ellyn, IL
2023 Raabe Prize
Applications are now being accepted for the 2023 Raabe Prize for Excellence in Sacred Music. The Raabe Prize is established to recognize a recent musical work that promotes and extends the practice of church music as it is informed and shaped by Lutheran theological insight and worship practices. The composition so recognized will have been written during the five-year period prior to the year in which the prize is awarded and should be representative of a larger body of work by the composer. Preference will be given to those compositions that grow out of the heart of Lutheran worship – the song of the assembly that enables all to lift their voices in prayer, praise, and proclamation as they gather around Word and Sacrament.
Valparaiso Conference Sponsorship Opportunities
 
Would you like to contribute to ALCM and support our July conference in Valparaiso? Gifts are welcome to support the conference and may be made from the ALCM website. As with all donations to ALCM, your gift can be designated in honor or in memory of a friend or loved one. All donations made by May 15, 2022 will appear in the honor role of contributors listed in the Valparaiso conference program book.
Investing in Future Generations of Leaders

Did you know that few LSM students actually pay full tuition? Thanks to scholarships and congregational support through programs such as the Young Musicians Partnerships, many LSM students receive matching grants that reduce out-of-pocket costs. After LSM, students not only continue to grow in their skills by leading worship in their home congregations but are also eligible for annual college scholarships ranging from $500 to $6,000 through LSM’s Collegiate Partnership Program. Scholarships are still available for LSM 2022: nominate or encourage a young musician you know to apply today!
You are invited to freely make use of the ALCM Virtual Easter Hymn during the Easter season and at all times. Share the hymn with everyone. All copyright restrictions are waived. If you own a One License subscription and offer the hymn recording in worship please include it when submitting your One License report.
Llamados a ser una voz viviente
Called to Be a Living Voice
In light of the tremendous changes in the field of church music that had taken place over the past 25 years, in January 2014 the ALCM board of directors developed a plan to review the Statement on Music and Worship that ALCM adopted in 2003 to determine whether it needed to be revised or replaced. A task force was appointed to work on the project and in October 2016 the ALCM membership voted overwhelmingly to adopt Called to Be a Living Voice to stand alongside the 2003 ALCM Statement on Worship.

Thanks to ALCM member Omaldo Perez, Called to Be a Living Voice has now been translated into Spanish. Llamados a ser una voz viviente is presented in two versions:



Please feel free to share this with musicians serving in Spanish-speaking congregations and others who might be interested.
CrossAccent is in the mail!
Watch your mailbox for the next issue of CrossAccent, which is being mailed this week. Included in this issue:
  • Resisting Cultural Appropriation in Hymnody - Jan Rippentrop Schnell
  • Authenticity in Inculturation: Some Lessons from the Development of Christian Hymnody in the Xerente Community - Marcos Krieger
  • The Serious Nature of the Quodlibet in Bach's "Goldberg Variations" - Michael Marissen
  • Of Pulsing Rhythms and Moving Bodies: Aspects of an Incarnational Musicology - Omaldo Perez
2022 Summer Sessions
June 6-17 | June 20-July 1
Events are now being published both in the website calendar and in the monthly newsletter. Do you have an event that you'd like to include? ALCM members should log in and follow the link on the main members area page. Non-members should send event details to office@alcm.org for consideration. 
On the April ALCM Calendar
2022 Hillert Award

ALCM, in partnership with the Center for Church Music, is pleased to announce that manuscript submissions for the 2022 Hillert Award in Student Composition are now being accepted. Applicant must be a student in a Lutheran college/university or seminary in the United States or Canada. Nominations may come from someone other than the composer.

The submitted piece must be a church music composition (3-5 minutes in length) suitable for a liturgical service. Compositions in all genres and from all geographical areas are welcomed. Cash prize of $1000 will be awarded with a certificate presentation at the annual Lectures in Church Music. The winning piece may also be performed at the ALCM biennial conference in Philadelphia in July 2023.

The deadline for applications is May 1, 2022 and should be submitted to Barry.Bobb@CUChicago.edu. Include a sound recording if possible.
Monday Evening Compline

ALCM president-elect Nancy Raabe is leading compline each Monday evening at 8:00 pm Eastern time live on her church's Facebook page. The recorded link will be posted on ALCM's Facebook page by 8:30 pm Eastern each Monday for any who are interested. The link will remain active throughout the coming week. "Guide us waking, O Lord, and guard us sleeping . . ."

Also, check out Nancy's psalm refrains for Lent Year C just posted in the members area of the ALCM website. There is a link to the psalms under "What's new for members?" on that page.
The Institute of Liturgical Studies at Valparaiso University is pleased to welcome the Elm Ensemble as the featured guest artist for this year’s David G. Truemper Memorial Concert. Under the direction of Sally and Joshua Messner, the ensemble will present In Deepest Night: A Festival of Psalms, a program exploring the gamut of emotions voiced by the psalmists while modeling many and creative ways in which the psalms can be sung in worship—a survey of the rich, thin, and deep spaces between exquisite and practical, between Kyrie and Gloria, between liturgy and life. The program will include works by Abbie Betinis, Heinrich Schütz, Bobby McFerrin, I-to Loh, Robert Buckley Farlee, and more. To learn more about this year’s Institute or to register, click here.
Kyries & Glorias

Kyries (prayer concerns) and Glorias (thanksgivings) are posted in the members area and on this page on the ALCM website. Kyries and Glorias for the following people have been recently posted:

In memoriam

Kyrie

Gloria

ALCM members are invited to submit Kyries and Glorias following the link in the members area of the website. Non-members may contact the ALCM office at office@alcm.org with information for posting.
TUNE UP worship band gathering
Virtual Training via Zoom
May 6 and 7, 2022

Join us for our virtual TUNE UP gathering this year on May 6-7. We will gather on Zoom for training, collaboration, and networking. This gathering is for everyone: instrumentalists, vocalists, worship leaders, pastors, and audio/video techs. We will meet over 3 two-hour sessions on Friday night, Saturday morning, and Saturday afternoon.
Are you a congregation looking for a musician?
A musician looking for a position?
ALCM can help!

Employment resources have been developed to assist congregations in the process of searching for and hiring a musician. Presented in a step-by-step format, these resources will guide you through the entire employment process.

The ALCM job listing service connects those looking for positions in the field of church music with congregations and other institutions that have openings. By completing an online job posting form, congregations can post their positions on the ALCM website where those looking for employment may view them.

Musicians searching for a job may view posted job openings on the ALCM website, where those looking for positions can view them. Both full-time and part-time positions are listed, and new positions are added as received.
A list of ALCM member-led 
Sunday worship streams & recordings is available at:


To be added, please email information to: office@alcm.org
The Association of Lutheran Church Musicians
nurtures and equips musicians
to serve and lead the church's song.