This will be the tenth Lutheran Hymn Festival to be held in Dallas since 1993. This year’s festival will feature hymnody both from the Lutheran tradition with next year’s 500th anniversary of the Reformation. Many of the hymns are written and composed by Martin Luther.

The purpose of the Lutheran Hymn Festival is to:

• Glorify God – soli Deo gloria!
• Encourage one another in the faith by singing hymns. The Scriptures bid us to do so: “…singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:19 – 20 NRSV). And again, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word and deed, do everything in the name of our Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him” (Colossians 3:16-17 NRSV).
• Proclaim the Gospel to the Metroplex community.
• Encourage and support the training of young church musicians. The residual funds from this evening’s festival will be used for scholarships to the Lutheran Summer Music Academy and Festival.

SEEKING EXPERIENCED SINGERS:

The Lutheran Hymn Festival Choir is made up of volunteer choristers from churches throughout the DFW area. This is a unique group since it meets to rehearse a limited number of times while needing to learn a large amount of music. In addition, there are places for only about 100 singers; that means there will only be about 25 in each voice part: soprano, alto, tenor, and bass. Because of all of these factors, we are looking for choristers who learn quickly, have had some musical training (particularly in choirs), and can commit to coming to the rehearsals.

If you can answer “yes” to each of the questions below, then please consider registering to sing in the choir:

1. I can attend both the rehearsals on October 9 and October 16 at Zion Lutheran Church.
2. I can attend one or both rehearsals on September 11 and September 25. Singers are strongly encouraged to attend both rehearsals.
3. I sing in a church choir regularly and/or I read music.

ADULTS

Do you know children who love to sing and sing well? Help us find children in our Lutheran congregations and schools who would like to participate in the Children’s Choir.

• Children must be in grade 4 through 8, have an unchanged voice (no baritones), be able to match pitch and sing back melodies they hear, and enjoy singing. They do not have to have a lot of previous experience if they meet the qualifications above.
• There will be two mandatory Saturday morning rehearsals on October 1 and October 15 at Zion Lutheran Church in Dallas prior to the Festival.
• The choir will be led by Cynthia Nott, Artistic Director of the Children’s Chorus of Greater Dallas.

This year the children’s choir will be made up entirely of children from Lutheran Churches and Schools. If you know of specific children who would be good candidates for the choir, please let them know about this opportunity—or you can email their contact information directly to the Children’s Choir Coordinator, Lois Eatherton at leatherton@ziondallas.org, by Wednesday, August 31.

PURCHASE TICKETS

For full details of this event, check out the Lutheran Hymn Festival website.