Music at LCH

Music is central to the worship at the Lutheran Church of Honolulu. We are blessed with many talented singers and instrumentalists who offer their time and talent through music ministry.

We are pleased that the tradition of fine music at LCH continues under the leadership of Dr. Miguel Felipe, who became director of music and liturgy in September 2011. He serves also as director of choral activities at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa. Dr. Felipe succeeds Carl Crosier, who recently retired as cantor after 38 years of dedicated service.

The LCH Choirs

There are three choirs which sing weekly for our three worship services. (List of musical selections for all services of the current month)

8:00 O’Clock Ensemble prepares hymns and communion anthems for the first three Sundays of each month at the 8:00 AM service. It is a mixed group of all ages who enjoy singing music for this informal service. Piano is the primary keyboard instrument, augmented by guitar, flute and other melody instruments. Worship materials are taken from contemporary hymnals including With One Voice, Worship and Praise, Renewing Worship Songbook, and Gather Comprehensive. A rehearsal is held on the Wednesday immediately preceding the first Sunday of each month from 6:30 to 8:00 PM, with a Sunday morning warmup at 7:20 AM.

The LCH choir in procession Lutheran Church of Honolulu Choir sings at the 10:30 AM service each week, all special seasonal liturgies, vespers, and at least one concert per year. The mixed choir of about 30 voices has been heard frequently with the Hawaii Chamber Orchestra, the Bach Chamber Orchestra and the Honolulu Symphony. Membership is by audition with the choirmaster. The choir rehearses regularly on Thursday evenings, September through May, 7:00 to 9:15 PM, with a Sunday morning warmup at 9:30 AM.

The ensemble prepares over 200 works each year, ranging from ancient chant, Renaissance polyphony, Baroque works to masters of the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries, most in their original languages of Latin, German, French, Hebrew, and even Scandinavian languages and high church Slavonic. During the past 30 years, the choir has performed many choral works of Johann Sebastian Bach, having presented over 50 cantatas, all six motets, both versions of the Magnificat and the complete Christmas Oratorio. The choir has also sung major works by Buxtehude, Charpentier, Handel, Mozart, Fauré, Britten, Bernstein, Duruflé, Copland and Peter Hallock. In the year 2000, for the church’s 100th anniversary, they gave two critically-acclaimed performances of the St. Matthew Passion with the Honolulu Symphony. Bach’s St. John Passion was performed in March 2004 with the world-renowned Max van Egmond taking the role of Jesus. In Mary 2011, the Mass in B Minor (PDF) was offered as part of Carl Crosier’s final season.

The choir has five recordings available, including a compact disc of Benjamin Britten’s Ceremony of Carols. Their latest CD, “Let My Prayer Come Up as the Incense,” contains music for Solemn Vespers and was released in August 2002.

Watch video of selections from the Ionian Psalter sung by members of the LCH Choir.

Compline Choir sings every Sunday night at 9:00 PM. Compline, the last prayer service of the day in the monastic cycle, contains verses and responses, short prayers, a lesson, and a canticle (Nunc Dimittis). The all-male Compline Choir specializes in plainchant and in music from the Renaissance. Many of its members are professional choral conductors in other churches. Membership is by audition with the conductor, Keane Ishii.

The Compline Choir celebrated its 30th anniversary on August 6, 2006, by singing at morning worship that day as well as with a special Compline service that evening. Read more about the anniversary celebration.

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Abendmusiken Concert Series

The Abendmusiken concerts, begun in 1992, were designed to showcase the choirs, vocal and instrumental artists of the Lutheran Church of Honolulu. We call our series Abendmusiken after the famous concerts held at the Marienkirche in Lübeck, Germany, to which Johann Sebastian Bach walked over 200 miles to attend several hundred years ago. It is in this same spirit that we at the Lutheran Church of Honolulu present our own Abendmusiken. Concert and Concerted Music Services Schedule 2011–2012.

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Music Education for Children

As part of the church’s Sunday morning program of Christian Education, the children learn songs accompanied by Orff instruments (xylophones of different sizes and percussion instruments). The music ensemble for elementary school children and their parents, called F.R.O.G.S. (Families Revering Our God in Song), presents their musical offerings in worship services several times a year. More information is available on the Children and Youth page.

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The LCH Music Staff

Miguel Felipe, director of music and liturgy, studied at the prestigious Interlochen Arts Academy where earned a diploma in piano and graduated from the University of Cincinnati College—Conservatory of Music where he earned a Bachelor of Music, summa cum laude. After relocating to Boston, Felipe attended the Pierre Monteux School and studied conducting at Boston University where he earned his graduate degrees studying with Dr. Ann Howard Jones, David Hoose, Craig Smith, and Joseph Flummerfelt. He came to LCH in September 2011 and also serves as director of choral activities at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa. Information about Dr. Felipe’s life and career as a conductor, teacher, and scholar is available at <www.miguelfelipe.com>.

Katherine Crosier, organist, received a Bachelor of Music from the University of Southern California and a Master of Music from Westminster Choir College. She has been the church’s organist since 1978.

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