David Cherwien, Choral and Organ Clinician

is a church musician, conductor, organist, composer and workshop/worship leader, living in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota. He has a special passion for congregational song and maintains a travel schedule presenting hymn festivals and workshops in many parts of the country each year. He is the third person to be called as Cantor at Mount Olive Lutheran Church, Minneapolis, a congregation known for its liturgical worship and love of hymnody (Mark Sedio and Paul Manz are Cherwien’s predecessors with the same title). From 2002 to 2023 he served as Artistic Director for the National Lutheran Choir, a 60 voice professional choir also based in the Twin Cities.

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Dr. Cherwien holds graduate and under graduate degrees in organ performance, theory / composition, and music education (choral) from the University of Minnesota and Augsburg College. He has also studied organ, composition and conducting in Europe (at the Berlin Church Music School, and in Aix-en-Provence, France), and is a Fellow of Melodious Accord, studying with Alice Parker. Cherwien has over 150 published works for choir and organ with nine publishers, and edited the National Lutheran Choir series with Morningstar, which included many pieces he composed for the choir. He has recorded many CD’s, including the “Hymns We Love to Sing” series, which are available through the National Lutheran Choir (www.nlca.com), or at Mount Olive Lutheran Church (www.mountolivechurch.org). He is past president of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians, and in October 2000 was named distinguished alumni of Augsburg College, Minneapolis.

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Mark Sedio, Choral and Organ Clinician

recently retired from his position as Cantor at Central Lutheran Church in downtown Minneapolis where he served from 2000-2022. Prior positions included serving as Cantor at Mount Olive (Minneapolis) and St. Paul Lutheran (Davenport, IA). Over the past three decades he also has held various faculty and instructor positions at Augsburg University, Gustavus Adolphus College and Luther Seminary (1985-2008, Musician Emeritus). An Augsburg alumnus (1976) he served as interim conductor of the Augsburg Choir (2011, 2016-18) and conducted the University’s Masterworks Chorale (2018-2020). In 2020 he was appointed University Organist and continues in this role. He currently holds the position of co-Cantor at Christ Church Lutheran in Minneapolis.

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Sedio is an active recitalist, clinician, conductor and composer, having presented hymn festivals and workshops throughout North America and Europe. Over 125 of his compositions for organ, piano, choral and instrumental ensembles are available from a variety of publishers. His hymn tunes, texts and harmonization appear in various denominational hymnals and supplements. A love of foreign language acquisition and linguistics combined with interest in folk music and styles has led to a keen interest in global church music. He holds the M.A. degree in choral conducting from the University of Iowa (1979) and has studied in the M.Div. program at Luther Seminary and the Liturgical Studies program at St. John’s University (Collegeville, MN). A charter member of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians, Sedio served on the organization's founding board and as its first Director of Ecclesiastical Concerns. He chaired the worship committee for the 2008 national convention of the American Guild of Organists and has served as liturgical and musical consultant for numerous denominational gatherings. An ordained deacon in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Sedio lives in St. Paul with his spouse Jeffrey Sartain, an ELCA pastor and their Lhasa apso Ibsen.

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JULY 16–17
TWIN CITIES, MN

Gloria Dei Lutheran Church
700 Snelling Ave S.
St. Paul, MN 55116

JULY 19–20
COLUMBIA, SC

St. Paul’s Lutheran Church
1715 Bull St.
Columbia, SC 29201

AUGUST 1–2
PHILADELPHIA, PA

St. Paul’s Lutheran Church
415 E Athens Ave.
Ardmore, PA 19003

AUGUST 5–6
COLUMBUS, OH

Prince of Peace Lutheran Church
5475 Brand Rd
Dublin, OH 43017

AUGUST 8–9
CHICAGO, IL

St. Luke’s Lutheran Church
205 N Prospect Ave.
Park Ridge, IL 60068