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Fifty-Third National Conference
September 23-26, 2010
Marriott Minneapolis City Center
Minneapolis, Minnesota

CMS CHORAL CONCERT
Friday, September 24

A concert featuring new choral works by CMS composers will take place at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, September 24, at St. Olaf Catholic Church (215 South 8th Street). The church is located just a few blocks from the conference hotel and is connected to the Minneapolis Skyway System. This concert is free and open to the public.

Note: A special pre-concert "Meet the Composer" session will be held from 7:30-7:50 p.m. All are welcome to attend and take part in this additional opportunity to interact with the composers of the evening's music.

View the complete concert program here.

Participating Choirs

Concordia University, St. Paul has had a touring concert choir since the 1950's when it became a coeducational institution. The Christus Chorus is a mixed ensemble auditioned from the 1,000 students in Concordia's traditional program. Under Mennicke's direction, the Christus Chorus has been selected to perform for several ACDA of Minnesota and MMEA conventions, the 1994 Minnesota Intercollegiate Festival Concert in Orchestra Hall, the 2002 and 2008 LEA National Convocations, the 1993 LCMS Great Commission Convocation, and the 1991 Bi-annual Conference of the North American Academy of Liturgy. The Concordia, St. Paul choirs have received five invitations to perform with the Minnesota Orchestra at Orchestra Hall since 1997, including Schönberg's Gurrelieder, Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, and a Christmas show with Rosemary Clooney. The choir performed at the invitation and sponsorship of the cultural ministry of the Polish government at their 10th annual International Sacred Music Festival, Gaude Mater, in Cjestochowa, Poland in May, 2000. They were the guest choir for the 2004 Pentecost Vespers service at the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, Germany. The Choir performed on Minneapolis's Orchestra Hall stage in 2006 for the F. Melius Christiansen 135th Anniversary Concert along with the college concert choirs of St. Olaf, Concordia (Moorhead), Gustavus Adolphus, and Augsburg. In May, 2008, the Christus Chorus held a concert/service tour to Ghana in West Africa, appearing on Ghanaian national TV and receiving an invitation to perform for the Ashanti King.

Dr. David L. Mennicke is a Professor of Music and Chair of the Concordia University, St. Paul Music Department, where he has been Director of Choral Studies since 1989. Mennicke graduated summa cum laude from St. Olaf College in 1983. After teaching 7-12 vocal music in Benson, MN, he earned masters and doctoral degrees from the University of Arizona. He studied with Kenneth Jennings, Helmuth Rilling, Robert Shaw, and Maurice Skones.

He has been a clinician for 200+ festivals. In 1992, ACDA of Minnesota named him "Outstanding Young Director of the Year", and he received their first "Creative Programming Award" in 1996. He conducted the 1999-2000 MN All-State Elementary Choir, the National Lutheran Choir in 1998 and 2006, and the Lutheran Summer Music Festival in 2001, 2003, 2004, and 2005, and the 2009-2010 MMEA All-State Men's Choir. He was the keynote speaker (on Schütz) for Luther Seminary's annual conference in 2010.

At Concordia, Mennicke also teaches conducting/choral methods, coordinates chapel music, leads the annual Christmas concerts, supervises student teachers and church music interns, advises students, and often is music director for theatre productions.

Mennicke has choral arrangements, services, music education materials, and articles published by CPH, Morningstar, ALCM, and AGEHR. He has served ACDA in state and divisional leadership. A tenor soloist, he was a member of the Grammy Award-winning Oregon Bach Festival Chorus and is a section leader in the Minnesota and SPCO Chorales. He is active in church music, directing choirs at Minneapolis's Bethlehem Lutheran since 1997.

Kantorei is a high-quality a cappella choral ensemble of about 40 voices based in Minnesota. The ensemble pursues the highest standard of musical expression and artistry. Founded in 1988 by Axel Theimer, Kantorei has become widely known for its stunning interpretations of European choral music.

Kantorei performs the great a cappella choral treasures and specializes in seldom-heard 19th- and 20th-century European compositions. The repertoire has inspired Minnesota audiences for nearly a quarter of a century.

In addition to its vocation for unaccompanied music, Kantorei has collaborated with the Minnesota Orchestra, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Minnesota Chorale, Minnesota Sinfonia, Amadeus Chamber Symphony, and local brass and string ensembles.

Many of Kantorei's singers are professional voice teachers, choral conductors and singers. With an integral focus on vocal health, Kantorei has set a standard in Minnesota for rich, effortless and efficient choral sound. This natural approach to singing has garnered resounding acclaim from composers and critics alike. Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Dominick Argento has called Kantorei's music "some of the best choral singing" he has heard.

The ensemble presents a full season of concerts each year, offers a growing collection of celebrated compact disc recordings and has been regularly featured on classical public radio programs. Through its educational and outreach programming, Kantorei invites audiences of all ages to share its pursuit of singing for a lifetime.

Born in St. Johann in Tirol, Austria, Axel Theimer has enjoyed music in his life since he was very young. Dr. Theimer was a member of the Vienna Boys Choir from age seven until voice change. He received much of his training in Vienna and completed his studies at the University of Minnesota with a MFA in Choral Conducting and a DMA in Vocal Performance.

Dr. Theimer has been Director of Choral Activities at the College of Saint Benedict/Saint John's University since 1969. He directs the CSB/SJU Chamber Choir and the SJU Men's Chorus and teaches choral conducting, applied voice, vocal pedagogy and other related courses.

He is an active recitalist and has presented master classes, workshops and seminars for state, regional and national music conventions and conferences, and has conducted All-State Choirs, Choral Festivals, and Honor Choirs throughout the United States.

Dr. Theimer is founder and music director of Amadeus Chamber Symphony, a chamber orchestra for central Minnesota musicians and audiences, and he is music director of the National Catholic Youth Choir. He is on the faculty and is currently Executive Director of the VoiceCare Network. In November 2001 the Minnesota American Choral Directors Association awarded him Choir Director of the Year. In 2004, he was named to the Minnesota Music Educators Association Hall of Fame. Dr. Theimer's choral compositions and arrangements are published by Alliance Publications, Inc., in Wisconsin.

Recognized for expressive singing and inspired programs, Magnum Chorum brings artistry and spirit to a cappella choral music. The 44-voice chamber choir presents colorful concerts, commissions and premieres new sacred works, and provides music for worship. Founded in the choral tradition of St. Olaf College, the choir welcomes singers of all backgrounds devoted to musical excellence in sacred choral music. Now celebrating its 20th season, Magnum Chorum also serves as Choir in Residence at Westwood Lutheran Church in St. Louis Park, MN. In 2009, Magnum Chorum released Love Divine, a lively and evocative collection that includes The Exaltation of Christ by Charles Forsberg, Five Hebrew Love Songs by Eric Whitacre, along with two works by emerging composers: Lost in the Night by Kyle Haugen and the premiere of Stanford Scriven's This is the Day.

Magnum Chorum has performed with distinguished conductors including Anton Armstrong, Weston Noble, Dale Warland, Kenneth Jennings, Philip Brunelle, René Clausen and Osmo Vänskä, and collaborated with prominent composers such as Stephen Paulus, Frank Ferko, Libby Larsen, and Ralph Johnson. The ensemble has been featured at conferences of the American Choral Director's Association, American Guild of Organists, and American Hymn Society. The choir's recordings are broadcast nationally and locally on public radio and classical music stations. Magnum Chorum's name is intended to convey the importance of the choir in expressing the divine and the infinite through voice, music, and text.

Dr. Christopher Aspaas, Associate Professor of Choral/Vocal Music at St. Olaf College, received his Ph.D. in Choral Music Education at The Florida State University in Tallahassee, his M.M. in Choral Conducting from Michigan State University in East Lansing, his B.M. in Voice Performance from St. Olaf. Christopher has served on the faculties of Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington and Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts.

At St. Olaf, Aspaas conducts the Viking Chorus, an 80-voice ensemble of first-year student men, and also leads the Saint Olaf Chapel Choir, a 120-voice ensemble specializing in the performance of oratorio and larger multi-movement works. Most recently, Aspaas led the Chapel Choir and St. Olaf Orchestra in a performance of Felix Mendelssohn's monumental oratorio, Elijah. In addition to conducting, he teaches choral literature, choral conducting, and private applied voice.

His travels as a guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator have taken Christopher to Alaska, Florida, Illinois, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and the Sultanate of Oman. He has conducted All-State Choruses in South Dakota and Wisconsin, and led All-State Choruses and Honor Choirs in Virginia, Kentucky, and Minnesota in 2009-2010.

Aspaas is also active as a tenor soloist, performing Bach cantatas with Helmuth Rilling and the Oregon Bach Festival Orchestra, the Evangelist roles in the John and Matthew Passions of Bach with the Bach Collegium of Fort Wayne, Ind., and other solo roles with the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, the Cuesta Master Chorale and the St. Petersburg Chamber Philharmonic in Russia.

The Singers is dedicated to giving world-class performances of the finest choral literature, serving as artists, educators, and ambassadors of the choral art. Choir members are drawn from throughout the region and come from all walks of life - including music educators, church musicians, bankers, carpenters, and more. Since 2004, The Singers has premiered over 45 world premieres by composers such as Stephen Paulus, Joshua Shank, Abbie Betinis, Jocelyn Hagen, and Craig Carnahan. In February 2010, The Singers hosted renowned composer Morten Lauridsen for a three-day festival of his choral works. The choir's fifth recording will be made in April 2010, featuring Professor Lauridsen at the keyboard for a number of his works. In the 2010-2011 concert season, The Singers will be performing Faure's Requiem, Stravinky's Mass, and giving the world premiere of Jocelyn Hagen's Amass. In April 2011, The Singers team with poet Michael Dennis Browne and guitarist/composer Jeffrey Van for a program on texts of Walt Whitman. Learn more about The Singers at www.singersmca.org.

Matthew Culloton is the Founding Artistic Director and Conductor of The Singers - Minnesota Choral Artists. He holds degrees from Concordia College, Moorhead (B.M. in Music Education) and the University of Minnesota (M.M. in Choral Conducting). He is currently completing coursework towards a D.M.A. in Conducting at the University of Minnesota. An experienced and celebrated music educator, Matthew began his teaching career in the Long Prairie - Grey Eagle School District. From 2000-2006, he was Director of Choral Activities at Hopkins High School, overseeing a choral program of six performing ensembles. His Hopkins Concert Choir performed at the 2002 and 2004 MN ACDA Fall Conventions and the 2005 MMEA Mid-Winter Clinic. In November 2004, Matthew was presented with the MN ACDA Outstanding Young Choral Conductor of the Year Award. In the fall of 2003, he was the recipient of the VocalEssence/ACDA of Minnesota Creative Programming Award for his work at Hopkins High School.

As a composer, Matthew has been commissioned by The Singers, the Dale Warland Singers, Choral Arts Ensemble of Rochester (MN), Ames Chamber Artists, Chanson, the Minnesota MMEA All-State Choir, and numerous high school, collegiate, and church choirs. He is co-editor of the Matthew and Michael Culloton Choral Series with Santa Barbara Publishing Company. His music is published by Santa Barbara Music Publishing, Hinshaw Music, Mark Foster Music (Shawnee), Kjos Music, and Graphite Publishing.

The National Lutheran Choir is a 60-voice choir dedicated to strengthening, renewing and preserving the heritage of choral music through the highest standards of performance and literature. The choir performs works from the entire spectrum of sacred choral music, with and without instrumental accompaniment. This rich and diverse repertoire ranges from early chant to new compositions and from simple folk anthems to complex choral masterworks.

In addition to a regular series of annual concerts in and around the Twin Cities, the National Lutheran Choir regularly tours the Upper Midwest and throughout the United States; conducts workshops in choral techniques, hymnody and liturgy; commissions new works; produces high quality recordings; and is heard over the Minnesota Public Radio/American Public Media broadcast network. The National Lutheran Choir was honored with Chorus America's Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence (2007), and the Luther Institute's Wittenberg Award for distinguished service to church and society (2007).

David Cherwien, music director of the National Lutheran Choir, is a nationally known conductor, composer and organist. Recognized for his contributions to the field of church music and liturgy, he is in demand as a clinician and hymn festival leader across the county.

David serves as editor of the National Lutheran Choir Series of choral music published by MorningStar Music Publishers. He is a founding member of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians, and has served in its leadership in a variety of capacities. David is a member of Chorus America, the American Choral Director's Association, American Guild of Organists and Choristers Guild. In addition, David serves as Cantor at Mount Olive Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, a parish known for its passion for creative high quality liturgy and music.

David has a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Minnesota and completed undergraduate studies at Augsburg College in Minneapolis in choral music education and organ performance. He also spent two years at the Berlin Church Music School studying conducting, composition and organ.

The Northwestern College Choir is among the leading college choirs in the Midwestern United States, enjoying a rich history of performing primarily sacred a cappella music of all stylistic eras, hymns and spirituals, and regularly presenting major choral-orchestral works by Bach, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Beethoven and others. The choir has toured extensively throughout the United States, and in Ukraine, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Poland, Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Norway, Great Britain and Canada. The Northwestern College Choir has appeared for state and divisional conventions of the American Choral Directors Association, the "keynote" concert of the Minnesota Music Educators Association, and was the first American choir to be invited to sing at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Kiev, Ukraine. In its history, the Northwestern College Choir also participated in the US premiere of Wilhelm Stenhammar's tone poem Sången with VocalEssence under Philip Brunelle, in a Bach motet master class with German conductor/Bach scholar Helmuth Rilling, and in a series of joint concerts and radio broadcasts with Nebraska's professional choir Soli Deo Gloria Cantorum. Recordings of the choir have been featured on the nationally syndicated radio broadcasts Sing for Joy, the Skylight Satellite Network, and for Minnesota, Nebraska and National Public Radio. The choir regularly commissions new works, which have included the world premiere of Te Deum by the late Hungarian composer Frigyes Hidas for wind band and chorus, and premiere performances of new choral works by David C. Dickau, Eric William Barnum, Linda Tutas Haugen, Peter Hamlin, John Orfe, and Philip Norris.

Timothy Sawyer has enjoyed an active career as a conductor, educator and professional singer after formal musical training at Bethel University (St. Paul), Exeter University (England), the University of Minnesota, and in doctoral-level study at the University of Iowa. In addition to extensive experience as a tenor soloist and chorister, he is a veteran of several professional choirs, among them the Dale Warland Singers, the Ensemble Singers of VocalEssence of Minnesota under Philip Brunelle, and the Oregon Bach Festival Chorus under Helmuth Rilling. Since 1989, Mr. Sawyer has been a member of the music faculty at Northwestern College in St. Paul where he is director of choral activities and teaches conducting. In recent years, he has led numerous choral festivals throughout the United States and internationally in Ukraine, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Hong Kong. An enthusiastic teacher of conducting, Sawyer prepares and coaches conductors in his role as associate director of the Oregon Bach Festival's conducting master class. As a member of the board of Music in World Cultures, an international faith-based organization using music as a strategic tool in developing cross-cultural relationships, he also serves as an adjunct conducting faculty member for international music academies throughout Eastern Europe.

The Oratorio Society of Minnesota is an auditioned 75-voice choral ensemble based in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota. Celebrating its 30th year, OSM continues to delight audiences with performances of the great works of choral literature in some of the region's finest venues. Society members are of all ages and from all walks of life and have considerable choral singing experience.

Matthew Mehaffey is Associate Professor of Music at the University of Minnesota, where he conducts the Concert Choir and the Men's Chorus, teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in Conducting and Literature, and regularly serves as Music Director of the University Opera Theatre. He is also the Artistic Director of the Oratorio Society of Minnesota, a role he assumed in 2008. A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Dr. Mehaffey holds degrees from Bucknell University (BM), Westminster Choir College (MM), and the University of Arizona (DMA). Recent professional conducting engagements include work with Washington National Opera, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, VocalEssence, Minnesota Chorale, Air America Radio, and Turner Network Television. He is in frequent demand as a lecturer and guest conductor, and has published extensively with GIA Publications. Additionally, he serves as Director of Music at St. Clement's Episcopal Church in St. Paul. An avid sports fan, he enjoys golf, baseball, and curling in his spare time. He lives in downtown Minneapolis with his wife Libby and daughter, Veda.

The University of Central Oklahoma Concert Chorale was created in 1992 to sing the highest quality choral literature from all style periods. As the University of Central Oklahoma's premier choral ensemble, the Concert Chorale is chosen each year from the UCO student population, including majors and non-majors. Members of this ensemble have performed at the 2009 and 2010 Oklahoma Music Educators Conventions, and for three international tours (Italy, 1999 and 2008, and Ireland, 2001). They have also toured Texas, Louisiana, Kansas, New Mexico, Colorado, and Missouri as well as Oklahoma. They have sung with major orchestras including the Wichita Symphony and the Manhattan Symphony in New York City's Carnegie Hall. Recent performances include The Creation by Franz Joseph Haydn, Requiem in D Minor, KV 626 by W. A. Mozart, Gloria by Francis Poulenc, Hymn to St. Cecilia, Op. 27 by Benjamin Britten, Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit, BWV 106 by J. S. Bach, Liebeslieder Walzer, Op. 52 by Johannes Brahms, and Magnificat by Halsey Stevens.

A native of the Chicago area, Dr. Karl Nelson has served as the Director of Choral Studies at the University of Central Oklahoma since August of 2006, where he conducts the Concert Chorale, Chamber Singers, and Edmond Community Chorale.

A student of Kenneth Fulton, Michael Butterman, Jindong Cai, Chester Alwes and Joe Grant, he earned a Doctorate of Musical Arts and a Master of Music in Choral Conducting from Louisiana State University and a Bachelor of Science in Music Education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His previous positions include Director of Choral Activities at the University of Evansville in Evansville, Indiana, William Carey College in Hattiesburg, Mississippi and director of choirs at St. Joseph's Academy in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Great Bridge High School in Chesapeake, Virginia.

Under the direction of Dr. Nelson, the University of Central Oklahoma Concert Chorale has toured throughout Italy in 2008, performed at the Oklahoma Music Educators Conference in 2009 and 2010, and has been invited to perform for the College Music Society National Conference in September 2010. He has served as clinician and adjudicator on numerous occasions, working at the grade school, high school, college, and community levels. Dr. Nelson also has experience as the conductor of various church choirs as well as musical director for several musical theatre productions. When not directing music, he loves woodworking, watching his beloved Chicago Cubs and spending time with his loving wife, Jena, six-year-old son, Rafe, baby girl, Linnea, and black lab, Wrigley.

The University Singers is the flagship choral ensemble of the University of Minnesota, presenting six to eight concerts each year under the joint leadership of Kathy Saltzman Romey and Matthew Mehaffey. This ensemble's diverse membership includes undergraduate and graduate students from within the School of Music as well as other disciplines. The choir explores Western and global literature from the Renaissance through the 21st Century, focusing on masterworks of the choral/orchestral repertoire as linked to study within the graduate conducting program. The chorus performs both as a large ensemble and in varying chamber configurations, presenting symphonic choral programs, graduate conducting recitals, and chamber music concerts with School of Music ensembles in Ted Mann Concert Hall and within the greater community. The University Singers also hosts an annual Bach Festival and collaborates with civic organizations throughout the Twin Cities, including the Minnesota Orchestra and The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. Further information about the University of Minnesota choral program can be found at http://www.music.umn.edu/choral.

Kathy Saltzman Romey is Director of Choral Activities at the University of Minnesota and Artistic Director of the Minnesota Chorale, the principal chorus of the Minnesota Orchestra. Known for her meticulous training of choruses, she has prepared programs for such internationally recognized conductors as James Conlon, Edo de Waart, Lorin Maazel, Nicholas McGegan, Bobby McFerrin, Roger Norrington, Helmuth Rilling, Robert Shaw, Leonard Slatkin, and Osmo Vänskä. A staff member of the Oregon Bach Festival since 1984, Romey is also principal chorus master of the Festival Choir, which she prepares for annual performances, Festival premieres, and recording projects. She has assisted with ten recordings, including the Festival's Grammy Award-winning CD of Penderecki's Credo under Helmuth Rilling, and in Minnesota, the 2008 Grammy-Nominated CD of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with Osmo Vänkä, the Minnesota Orchestra and Minnesota Chorale. Romey regularly serves as a chorus master to the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart and has assisted with special programs and tours in Germany, France, Poland, Austria, Switzerland and the United States. She has also prepared programs for the Carnegie Hall Choral Workshops, the Westminster Symphonic Chorus, the Netherlands Radio Chorus, the Festival Ensemble Stuttgart and the Berkshire Choral Festival.

Romey earned a B.A. in Flute Performance from the University of Oregon in 1979, and an Artistic Degree in Choral Conducting under Helmuth Rilling from the Frankfurt Musikhochschule in 1984. She returned to the United States to assist Dale Warland at Macalester College and served as Director of Choral Activities at the college from 1985-1992. Active as a guest conductor and clinician, Romey was named 2002 Conductor of the Year by the Minnesota chapter of the American Choral Directors Association and received the 2006 Arthur 'Red' Motley award for exemplary teaching from the University of Minnesota.

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