Middle School Consortium Project

Join me and lead commissioner Angelica Cantanti Youth Choirs (ACYC), directed by Elizabeth Egger, in this consortium! A group of ACYC middle schoolers brainstormed ideas with me this summer. These wise young people want to tell a story surrounding the idea of “confusion.”

“The unknown is forever strange; the answers are never ordinary.”

In one package of $250, here’s what you’ll get:

  • Score (S(S)A and piano), medium difficulty, in PDF form emailed by January 5
  • Your name and institution in score as commission project participants
  • Teaching resources downloadable in Google Slides format including both musical teaching moments and social-emotional learning lessons
  • MP3s vocal practice tracks
  • MP3 accompaniment track
  • Live Zoom with me and Beth Egger (Date TBD) also viewable later on Youtube

All participants will be asked to sign a brief commissioning agreement. Reach out if you have any questions or want to join us!

Inspired Choir Virtual Summer Summit

I will be participating in the virtual ‘Inspired Choir Summer Summit’ along with many fellow composers July 24-26, and I hope that many of you can join me! This is a summit where you can learn from choral composers as they share their repertoire, inspirations, stories, and lessons. Learn more and reserve your free spot here.  

‘Harsh Things to Beauty’ Album Release

On May 23, 2023, I will be releasing my first album and features all original songs that I’ve written over the years through commissions, my incredible experience as a part of the Nautilus Composer-Librettist workshop, and making music with dear colleagues. It started as a recording project during the height of the pandemic, when I saw many singers suddenly and devastatingly out of work. Choirs weren’t meeting. Concerts weren’t happening. Though I had the good fortune to be gainfully employed through my church, I still took a hit as my music sales, concerts, and premieres all dried up as well. Through help from grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board and Ramsey County, I had the means to record many of my solo compositions that had been previously unrecorded. 

This collection of songs is eclectic, and a good introduction to my range as a composer. Traditional art song (written to be sung in recital, typically with piano accompaniment and often set to a poem) is well represented, but I have also included pieces that would be comfortable in a jazz club, theater, or on stage. Most of the lyricists/poets have Minnesota connections, and I have been honored to have collaborated with many of them. There is a wealth of talent here in the Twin Cities, and I sought out the best and the brightest to make my music shine.

Poets and Lyricists

Athena Kildegaard and the recently departed Louis Jenkins each have a song cycle highlighted on the album. The five writers that participated in the Composer-Librettist studio with Linda, Alan Berks, Jeremiah Gamble, Alayna Jacqueline, Katie Ka Vang, and Kathleen Tucker are also represented along with Arthur Upson, Marjorie Pickthall, and Lola Ridge.

Singers and Collaborative Pianists

Laurel Armstrong, Gary Briggle, Corissa Bussian, Daniel Greco, Roy Heilman, Georgia Jacobson, Maria Jette, Linh Kauffman, Clara Osowski, and KrisAnne Weiss, singers. Jill Dawe, Mary Jo Gothmann, Kathy Kraulik, Carson Rose Schneider, and Sonja Thompson, collaborative pianists.

Join me in celebrating on May 23rd! Click HERE to reserve your spot and HERE to RSVP via Facebook.

On and after May 23, ‘Harsh Things to Beauty’ can be found on all major streaming platforms, BandCamp, and here on my website.

Join me at the American Choral Director’s Conference for my showcase: Words that Sing

I’m looking forward to showcasing my work alongside my colleague Catherine Dalton at the national ACDA conference in Cincinnati. If you plan to attend the conference, I would love to see you there!

A bit about the showcase:
Are lyrics at the heart of your programming? Listen, read along, and discover insights that will fuel your upcoming music selections. Join us as we provide a glimpse into how we source and set meaningful texts in our distinctive compositions as you find new ways to engage your choirs and audiences! You will receive a QR code with access to all the scores and recordings in the session.

Wed, Feb 22, 4pm
Duke Energy Convention Center, Rooms 260-262
Learn more here.

We Toast the Days Featured in Inspired Choir

I’m honored to have been featured in Colleen McNickle’s blog Inspired Choir: “Sing In the New Year with We Toast The Days by Linda Kachelmeier.” Not only does it feature a piece close to my heart, it also presents a composer feature, discussion guides, and teacher resources!

For the last decade, Colleen has been teaching music to students of all ages. She created Inspired Choir in an effort to boost her own practice as a choir teacher and share her work with others. You can learn more about Inspired Choir and Colleen here.

Visit the blog post here, and stay on to take in other wonderful features of fellow composers!

About We Toast the Days:

Originally written to be sung at midnight on New Year’s Eve with friends and family as a new kind of ‘Auld Lang Syne’, this piece grew into a full-fledged choral piece. From quartets to large choirs, it has been performed by community choirs, high schools, and professional groups such as Lumina, Lorelei, and this winter, Cantus. Available Voicings: SSAA, SATB, and TTBB.

A Visit with Angelica Cantanti Youth Choir

You know what’s great? Working with amazing colleagues like Beth Egger and fantastic choirs like Angelica Cantanti. I had a wonderful night workshopping my piece I Am Becoming as the choir prepared for their upcoming ACDA performance. The focus, fun, and connection to the song was so moving.

The Angelica Cantanti Youth Choirs is an award winning Twin Cities’ children’s choir program dedicated to providing high quality choral music education with excellence in performance. ACYC’s conductors are professional music educators and artists who nurture and challenge the 275 boy and girl singers in grades K – 12. Young singers come from across the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area to weekly rehearsals at the Bloomington Center for the Arts. 

“I Give Voice to My Mother” Highlight of Source Song Festival Concert

I Give Voice to My Mother, my song cycle in six movements based on poems by Athena Kildegaard from her book “Course” was performed at Source Song Festival the other week, and I was honored to see it mentioned in the Star Tribune’s review of the festival’s opening night performance. You can read the full review here.

It was quite special to have multiple singers share a song cycle:
Clara Osowski and KrisAnne Weiss, mezzo-sopranos
Maria Jette and Tracey Engelman, sopranos
with Mary Jo Gothmann, piano

Linda Kachelmeier’s “I Give Voice to My Mother” was the highlight of the evening, as four singers traded songs that the composer had created from Kildegaard’s poetry. Opening and closing with soft, simple benedictions from festival co-founder Clara Osowski — whose voice I would have loved to have heard more — the cycle was at its most touching on soprano Maria Jette’s interpretation of “A Healing” and Weiss’ chronicle of a mother’s death, “Cadence.”

Rob Hubbard, Star Tribune

Photo: Source Song Festival Founder and Singer, Clara Osowski (left) and composer Linda Kachelmeier (right)

New Music for Church Choirs

Join my colleagues Karen Marrolli, J. David Moore, and I for a virtual happy hour reading session of New Music for Church Choirs on Thursday, August 11th from 4-5pm CT! 

Register for free by scanning the QR code above or by clicking HERE.

During the session, we’ll each share a variety of accessible pieces for choirs of all abilities, and we’re hopeful that you’ll leave with some great ideas for your fall through Epiphany programming. Follow along with scores, hear from the creators, and get some insight into how each piece could work for you and your ensembles.  

SPECIAL OFFER: Attendees of our session will receive 15% off your next order from each of our marketplaces! Bring some new life to your library. 

We hope you can join us!

About Linda Kachelmeier

​​Linda Kachelmeier (b. 1965, Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA) is a composer, conductor, and professional singer with a special passion for choral music and art song for their capacity for conveying emotion through the human voice. Her music has been described as having “luscious counterpoint, deliberate dissonances, and assertive vocal interaction.” She has received numerous grants and commissions and in 2017 she was awarded the prestigious McKnight Fellowship for Composition. Linda’s music has been performed by professional ensembles such as Cantus and The Rose Ensemble, as well as many school and church choirs across the United States and Europe. She is the founder and artistic director of the women’s vocal quartet LUMINA. Since 1991 she has been the Director of Music at First Presbyterian Church in South St. Paul. Her vast experience as a singer and conductor has helped make her a uniquely sensitive and gifted composer when writing for the voice, from children’s choirs to professional singers and all levels in between.

About Karen Marrolli

Karen Marrolli is the Director of Music Ministries at Central United Methodist Church in Albuquerque, NM. She has previously served as Director of Music Ministries at Trussville First United Methodist Church in Trussville, AL, as Director of Choral Ministries at the United Church of Santa Fe in Santa Fe, NM, and as the Artistic Director of the Zia Singers, the Cantu Spiritus Chamber Choir, and the Santa Fe Men’s Camerata. Marrolli holds the DMA degree in Choral Conducting from Louisiana State University (2010), where she studied Choral Conducting with Dr. Kenneth Fulton. She earned her BM in Music Theory and Composition (1997) and her MM in Choral Conducting and Sacred Music (2000) from Westminster Choir College before relocating to Charleston, SC, where she lived for seven years prior to pursuing doctoral studies. While in Charleston, she founded Lux Aeterna, a chamber choir who presented candlelight concerts in honor of such events as World AIDS Day, the September 11th attacks, and Child Abuse Awareness Month. These concerts always consisted of readings, often written by survivors of traumatic events, interspersed with choral music. The concerts progressed from a sense of darkness to light and were meant to give hope to those who were in a process of healing.

In addition to being a classically-trained composer and conductor, Karen is a prolific singer-songwriter who can be seen performing her own songs at various events in and around Albuquerque. Called “provocative” and “powerful” by listeners, her songwriting is autobiographical and stems from influences that range from piano-driven singer-songwriters such as Tori Amos and Regina Spektor to the acoustic folk sounds of Americana and Irish Traditional Music. 

Karen’s choral music is published independently as well as through the ECS Publishing Group. 

About J. David Moore

J. David Moore is a composer, arranger, conductor, teacher, and Southerner who has lived in the Upper Midwest for most of his life. His music has been called “endlessly inventive,” “glorious…haunting… breathtaking,” and “joyous…wild and elemental.” He publishes through his company Fresh Ayre Music, and is the founder and conductor of The First Readings Project, a chamber choir that acts as a resource for composers in the development and promotion of new work.

He lives with his beautiful wife Anna in Minneapolis, where he bakes bread, drinks tea, and is distracted by shiny objects.

The Joy of Working with Church Choirs

Last spring, I was commissioned by the choir at Parkview United Church of Christ, and this month they enthusiastically premiered my new piece When We Sing. I was enamored by the respect and sense of community there, and was impressed that this small church makes music a priority and fosters new work. This experience gave me a chance to reflect on how meaningful music-making is in worship settings. On those rare moments when you get to sit back and listen to a piece you’ve written come to life, you want to stop and savor it.

When I think about the difference between working with a church choir rather than a professional choir, I realize that any choir volunteer is doing it for the sheer love of singing, and that is special. In the case of a church choir member, they are also lifting their voice in praise. I appreciate the humility and selflessness that come with that. I lead my choir at First Presbyterian Church in South St. Paul, MN (where I’ve been for 30 years now!), so I understand very well the sense of community that is fostered in church choirs. I love giving them a mix of known and loved pieces, and new pieces that can challenge and inspire them to new heights.

The values of humility, courage and commitment come to mind as I reflect on my life in church music—it takes a lot of all of these to rehearse and sing week after week. Most church choirs sing more in a year than any student sings over their entire high school career—that takes dedication! I do my best to take those values into other areas of my life.

My compositional voice has undeniably been influenced by my time writing for and conducting church choirs. All in all, I want the music and words to connect with singers and community in a personal way. How does it make them feel when they sing it? Is it accessible to a wide range of voices? Is it relatable?

I want to keep growing my music for worship and hope to serve many more congregations with new songs to sing, new connections to be made.

World Premiere of ‘Lake Superior Songs’

I’m very much looking forward to the world premiere of four new songs I wrote based on the poetry of Louis Jenkins at the Schubert Club‘s upcoming Courtroom Concert on April 27th! This set focuses on the Duluth native’s love of nearby Lake Superior: The Lake, Picnic on the Shore, Brighton Beach Waves, and Driftwood, and will be performed by Georgia Jacobson, mezzo soprano and Carson Schneider, piano.

I wrote these songs while staying at Bob’s Cabins on the North Shore which had just opened up for the season on May 9, 2021. It was still chilly, but I eagerly went up there for a week alone to sketch out these pieces. I drew such inspiration from the Lake and these captivating poems! Here’s a glimpse from my time there:

I’m proud to be programmed alongside works by Jeremy Walker and Carol Barnett, and you can visit HERE to learn more about the concert and their music.

Details:
Wednesday, April 27, 2022
Noon
Landmark Center Cortile (main floor)
Free and Open to the Public


Lake Superior Songs will be performed by Georgia Jacobson, mezzo soprano and Carson Schneider, piano