Unabashedly Spiritual

Since Larry Fleming founded the National Lutheran Choir in 1986, the group has sought to preserve a unique local heritage by braiding together the performance traditions of three Midwestern Lutheran colleges and their iconic conductors: F. Melius Christiansen and Kenneth Jennings at St. Olaf, Weston Noble at Luther College, and Paul J. Christiansen and René Clausen at Concordia College.

NLC’s director, David Cherwien, says that while it’s not a requirement, it’s also no accident that 95 percent of the NLC comes from a Lutheran choral music background. When a Yale–based clinician asked him whether those “lovely, Midwestern pear-shaped vowels come that way or do you teach it?” Cherwien answered, “Yes.”

To cultivate that heritage, vocal compatibility is an important factor, says Cherwien, but spiritual compatibility is also crucial: “If the singers didn’t have compatibility with the spirit of what we do, that would hurt the choir.”

NLC’s Christmas concert, Love Incarnate, is unabashedly spiritual. “One thing I learned from Larry [Fleming] was to begin with the question ‘Why do we need Jesus today?’ Otherwise you end up with a collection of sentimental lullabies,” Cherwien says. “Love is a metaphor for Christ, and love is the answer to the hatred, anger, and fear in the world.”

Cherwien looks not just for high-quality music, but music that serves its message by triggering both memory and vision. “I always try to begin the program in a way that sets up the yearning for an answer.”

The concert fosters a sense of wonder and drama through both the voices and the physical space. Among the works on this year’s journey is Duruflé’s setting of the ancient Latin hymn, “Ubi Caritas et amor dues ibi est,”—Where charity and love prevails, god is found.

Dec. 12–13. Basilica of Saint Mary, 88 N. 17th St., Mpls., 612-722-2301