Concordia College Chapel Choir Performs at Shepherd of the Valley

The Concordia Chapel Choir from Concordia College, Moorhead, Minn., will present a concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 17, at in Apple Valley. A free will offering will be accepted.

A blend of more than 90 voices creates the sound of the Concordia Chapel Choir. Originally created to enrich the music of Concordia’s morning chapel services, the ensemble now performs in concert and tours annually. The choir, which is comprised of men and women in their sophomore, junior or senior years, is an integral part of the much-loved annual Concordia Christmas Concerts.

The concert program will include a variety of music from different cultures including Cuban and Lithuanian music and a unique Blue Grass Mass written for choir, fiddle, guitar, banjo and mandolin. Another featured piece is “Little Birds” by popular American composer Eric Whitacre. The concert will conclude with several folksongs, spirituals and hymns. 

Michael Smith, conductor of the choir, was choral director at Brainerd High School for 25 years where his choirs maintained a tradition of excellence performing numerous times for state and regional MENC and ACDA conventions, as well as, touring extensively throughout the United States, Mexico, and Europe. In addition to the Chapel Choir at Concordia, Smith, an assistant professor of music (choir/voice), conducts Cantabile, a choir made up of first-year women students and Männerchor, a choir of first-year male students.

Concordia College is a four-year liberal arts college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America offering more than 60 majors, including 18 honors majors and 12 preprofessional programs.