“Alexa, play classical music!”

And then I listen…and work. Every day I sit down in my home office, I tell my Amazon Alexa to “play classical music”; it’s what sustains me through my frenzy of a work day, and it’s what has sustained me throughout my life.

I was a teenager growing up in Lake Charles, Louisiana when I was first approached about an opportunity to attend a four-week summer program for high school musicians. It was at this point in my life that I was finding myself regularly playing for liturgies at my home parish and elsewhere around town. A still, small voice told me to pack my bags and head out for the adventure – I am still so happy I decided to listen and accept the challenge.

Those three summers as a student molded me – shaped me – formed me – into the musician and person I am today. I met some of the most amazingly talented peers, faculty, and staff and learned to listen to their advice and their gracious offering of friendship. I learned how to be a human outside of the confine of a family unit – how to grow together through differences. I learned to listen to those that think differently, pray differently, play their instrument differently, and live differently than me. It was this experience that, I truly believe, prepared me for my four year experience as an undergraduate student at Luther College. Although my academic vocation was outside of music, a good amount of my time was found in the music building at Luther – putting to good use the skills I obtained at LSM.

Following my collegiate career, I was struggling to find a career vocation – trying to find my place in this world. Until one evening, I sat on the couch of my home and listened…and the opportunity opened to work full-time for that program that taught me so much about life already. I was hesitant, but ultimately accepted the challenge and grew even more as a human and musician.

Listening. Some of us are listening for that still, small voice – others are listening to children – but most of us find ourselves listening to music. It’s almost as though life is it’s own album of music – the album that continues to play and mold our listening experience.

When I think about my musical “album”, I often harken back to my three summers spent as a student at LSM and the three summers I spent on the National Staff. It was across that continuum of time that many tracks were made – music with friends, colleagues, mentors, and musical giants past and present, including Carl Schalk. I was fifteen years old when I met Carl Schalk – a rather stoic man with a dry sense of humor came walking into the halls of the Jenson-Noble Hall of Music at Luther College in Decorah, IA. Little did I know that he, although small, was a giant in the life of music in the Church. And little did I know, also, that my first-time attendance at LSM would change my life.

Thanks be to God for LSM, and for Carl Schalk and the legacy he left for all to share. It’s in abundance of this thanksgiving that I ask you to please join me in making a donation to LSM to continue the splendid work of this organization.

Dietrich Jessen

LSM Student 2009-2011

National Staff 2016-2018

Member of LSM Advisory Council