December 2020: Jennifer Baker-Trinity shares about celebrating the saints connected to LSM who continue to shape her life.
Jennifer Baker-Trinity, LSM alumna and Advisory Council Member.
Boxes. So many boxes. It was the weekend before All Saints when the church remembers those who have gone before us. Since we were not remembering the saints as part of an in-person worship service, our family set up a home altar to remember just a few of the saints whose lives touched ours. Preparing for this meant sifting through several boxes of photos, cards, and letters packed away in storage.
It was telling that among the photos I placed on the altar were people connected to church music: choir members from the church I served right out of college, a photo of my first children’s choir that included a dear child of God and LSM alum gone to soon, and a beloved choir director from my youth.
As I reflect with gratitude for the gift that is Lutheran Summer Music, I am surrounded by a wonderful cloud of witnesses whom I was privileged to know through LSM. My search led me to photos of Dr. Paul Bouman who inspired me and so many others to pursue choral excellence and of Dr. Carlos Messerli, whose vision founded LSM.
These boxes at home (and even more boxes of letters written from LSM friends still stored under my bed at my mom’s house!) don’t tell the whole story of the LSM cloud of witnesses. For LSM to be what it is, it is important to give thanks for those whose encouragement, teaching, and witness prepared us for LSM before we even got there: grandparents, parents, teachers, choir directors, and mentors.
On our home altar was a photo of C. Thomas Schwalm. Tom was one of my first choir directors. I first heard about LSM through a poster Tom hung up near the choir room door. And it was his nurture and encouragement in the years before LSM that inspired my passion for music. Tom died in 2003 yet his love of music lives on in those fortunate to have sung under his leadership.
Just like Jennifer with her choir director, Tom, the majority of students attend LSM because of encouragement from a caring adult. YOU can be that person for a young musician in your life.
Those of us who attended LSM know people like Tom who led us there and encouraged us when we got back home. Our church this month is hosting a pie fundraiser with proceeds helping students attend summer camps, including LSM.
As my eighth grader practices his trumpet to prepare for his first LSM audition (and is excited to attend the Winter Session!), I give thanks for teachers beyond our family who are opening up possibilities for him. I know he’ll find amazing encouragement and inspiration through LSM.
Community support is essential for students attending LSM. In a year when traditional fundraising opportunities are more difficult, scholarship support is more important than ever.
I am forever grateful for the cloud of witnesses who guided me to LSM and nurtured me over three summers; there are too many to name. Even the friendships began there have sustained me decades later, not least of which is my partner, Nathan, whom I met that first LSM summer.
Through many interstate moves, I’ve wondered why keep all these boxes that collect dust in storage rooms. This year, when a pandemic separates us from those we love and when we can’t join our voices in song, it is a gift to be reminded that we are not isolated. For Lutheran Summer Music and its cloud of witnesses, I give thanks.
Jennifer Baker-Trinity
LSM 1992-1994
Advisory Council Member
