b.
1957
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David
Cherwien
David
Cherwien is currently serving as Director of Music at Mt. Olive
Lutheran Church, Minneapolis, MN, and in 2002 was appointed
Music Director for the National Lutheran Choir, also based
in the Twin Cities. He has also held full time parish music
positions in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, Chicago, Seattle,
and Berlin. During the 2000-2001 academic year he served as
Organist/Cantor of Christ Chapel and Visiting Instructor of
Music at Gustavus College, St. Peter, MN. While in Chicago,
he served as Teaching Associate in Service Playing and improvisation
at Elmhurst College. He completed the Doctor of Musical Arts
degree in organ performance, and the Master of Arts degree
in Theory and Composition, both from the University of Minnesota.
His undergraduate work was in organ performance and music education
at Augsburg College, Minneapolis, where he was honored as distinguished
alumni in the fall of 2000.
Following
his undergraduate work he studied for two years at the Berlin
Church Music School in Berlin, Germany. There he studied improvisation
with Renate Zimmermann, organ Literature with Karl Hochreither,
and composition with the late Ernst Pepping. He has also studied
organ with Christian Baude in Aix-en-Provence, France, and
with Paul Manz, Heinrich Fleisher, and Earl Barr in this country,
and is a Fellow with Melodious Accord, studying composition
with Alice Parker.
He
is composer of the popular series for organ, Interpretations,
based on hymn tunes (Lorenz) and has published other liturgical
music for choir and organ with AMSI, Abingdon, GIA, MorningStar,
Concordia, Augsburg/Fortress, and Choristers Guild. He is author
of the book Let the People Sing, a practical guide
for those who lead the congregation in song, published in 1997
by Concordia. He has recorded two CD's of congregational hymns
and organ arrangements with AMSI called Interpretations.
Dr. Cherwien has distinguished himself among American organists by his ability
to play an entire church service, including prelude, postlude, liturgy, and
hymns, with very little reference to printed music. In the European tradition
of church organists, going back to the time of Bach and before, he composes
or improvises much of the music he plays in a worship service. The music is
based on the lessons and liturgy appointed for the day and even on the texts
of the hymns to be sung.
David is a founding member of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians,
serving in its leadership in a variety of capacities, including National President
from 1993 to 1997. He is also active in the American Guild of Organists and
Choristers Guild.
His workshops on church music, service playing and improvisation, and his hymn
festivals and other worship leadership roles have brought him to many parts
of the country. Quote: "As a renowned church organist, conductor,
composer and improviser, David Cherwien brings creativity to hymns of various
traditions and styles. He has won national acclaim as a leader of congregational
song with hymn festivals that are always inspiring. With innovative merging
of organ, piano, instruments and voices, his music enfolds the participants
and transports them to an encounter with the sublime. Through this expression
of faith, Mr. Cherwien bears witness that music is a glorious gift of God." Pilgrim
Lutheran Church, Fine Arts Series 1997, Indianapolis, IN.
Choral music by David Cherwien
Organ
music by David Cherwien
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