Valparaiso University and Lutheran Summer Music Invite the Community to Festival Week

The 2024 Lutheran Summer Music (LSM) Academy and Festival, hosted at Valparaiso University, will culminate in Festival Week, July 22 through 28 at the Chapel of the Resurrection and Duesenberg Recital Hall. High school students from across the country will be joined by LSM faculty, composed of nationally recognized professionals including Valparaiso University faculty, for a series of concerts that will include band, choir, and orchestra performances as well as numerous recitals and worship services. All LSM concerts are free and open to the public. 

“The students have been working on their Festival Week music all month,” said Jeffrey Doebler, Ph.D., professor of music at Valparaiso University. “The performance level achieved by these students is always remarkable. The Wednesday night performance of St. John Passion will also be a not-to-miss event: beautiful, moving, artistic, inspirational.” 

Among many wonderful concerts, Festival Week will feature an intergenerational performance of J.S. Bach’s St. John Passion on July 24. The LSM community will sing alongside over 200 church musicians from the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians as well as Baroque performance experts, conducted by Valparaiso’s own Christopher Cock professor of music and Phyllis and Richard Duesenberg Chair in Lutheran Music. 

LSM students have spent the past three weeks learning from the outstanding LSM faculty and an exciting lineup of guest artists, including the award-winning Verona Quartet. Students have prepared seven days of concerts ranging from choir, band, and orchestra to small ensembles and a showcase of student compositions, in addition to individual work on solo repertoire. 

Valparaiso University is proud to host LSM on campus, including over 250 students, faculty, fellows, and staff — representing 30 states and two countries — for the 2024 LSM season. Valparaiso University is also a collegiate partner to LSM, offering scholarships to LSM students who attend Valpo. 

A complete list of LSM concerts and events can be found here. Those who cannot attend in person are encouraged to join via livestream here.