December 2020: Brita Moore-Kutz, LSM alumna (2008-2010) and member of the LSM Advisory Council remembers an Advent-themed LSM summer, and shares the domino effect that auditioning for LSM had on her life.
Brita Moore-Kutz, LSM alumna and Advisory Council Member.
Christmas themed All-Hall Party
At the time I’m writing this, it’s Advent of 2020, which takes place in December. But in LSM 2009, we showed you can observe Advent anytime – even in July – and if you’re going to have Advent, you have to have Christmas too! That summer featured hymns such as “Wake, Awake” and “Once in Royal David’s City” and an all-hall Christmas party during Festival Week. Who says you can’t celebrate Christmas in July?
Among all the hard work and practicing we do at LSM, we balance it with whimsical events like Christmas in July, dances, talent shows, St. Paul Saints games, kazoo marching band and fun games like “Boofer.” The communities LSM brings together around musical and spiritual growth experience joy and love beyond anything one can imagine – until you attend yourself.
I attended summer music programming every year from the time I started playing the cello in fifth grade, as well as joining a youth symphony, my school’s orchestra program and contributing to worship at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church of Mercer Island, Washington. By 2008, I was looking to expand my horizons of summer music activity from the local weeklong camps I’d been attending. My mom came across LSM, which sounded like exactly what I was looking for. I auditioned in-person at Phinney Ridge Lutheran Church one Sunday and was accepted on the spot!
Little did I know how much that day would shift the trajectory my life was on.
Brita playing the cello
My first year of LSM was at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn., followed by 2009-2010 at Luther. It didn’t take long for me to feel at home, with such welcoming faculty, staff and students. The moment I really knew I was going to love it was when I sat down for the first Festival Orchestra rehearsal with Dr. Jeffery Meyer conducting. The orchestra had an immediate blend unlike anything else I’d been part of. Of course, it was always challenging, especially while learning full Tchaikovsky symphonies, concerti and choral collaborations, on top of private lessons, electives, choir, small ensembles (known colloquially as “smembles”) and having to do your own laundry, all the while making new friends from all over the country and worshiping our Lord.
With the frenzied pace of each day at LSM, you learn to find the balance of work and play that we all need, between hours of practicing your instrument or voice and fun socializing with friends. I’m grateful for all my musical, spiritual and social growth among a group of peers who shared my enthusiasm for music in a faith context. There’s something to be said for the natural connection you make with people when you make music with them, which is sorely lacking during COVID times.
What buoys me now is the work we’re doing at the LSM Alumni Advisory Council, of which I am a member. I, like all the council members, want to keep the LSM community extended beyond the boundaries of years and college campuses and make the program even better for today’s students. I know if I had not attended LSM, I would not have discovered that Luther College was my dream school or made Minnesota my permanent home. Joining the council was a no-brainer for me.
Lutheran Summer Music was the place where I found “my people.” For all this and so much more, I owe LSM my deepest gratitude. I hope you will consider supporting our program so more youth can find this kind of joy… and even celebrate Christmas in July again.
Help a young musician like Brita take the first step toward LSM, where they can meet “their people” too.
Brita Moore-Kutz
LSM 2008-2010
Advisory Council Member
