Central Lutheran Church, in the heart of the city, welcomes all people to celebrate, discover and share the love of Christ.
Central's Musical Organizations
Central’s music ensembles
First and foremost, the musical organizations of Central Lutheran focus on providing music for the congregation’s worship services. In addition to lectionary based anthems, choral ensembles regularly present musical offerings in the form of psalm settings, liturgical chants, service propers and choral stanzas of hymns. Central’s bell choir often participates in offerings during the prelude, the gathering of offerings and time during the distribution of Holy Communion.
The Central Choir numbers 60 singers and sings most regularly at the 11:00 a.m. service, and occasionally at 8:30. Membership is open to adult singers, age 15 and up. Accurate pitch and good note reading skills are a necessity. Rehearsals are held each Wednesday evening from 7:15 to 9:00 in the choir room. In addition to participation in the weekly Sunday liturgies, the choir also presents larger works with orchestra at the morning services during the course of the year. These include the annual Advent Choral Service (usually the third Sunday in December), the Eastertide Cantata Sunday (usually the first Sunday in May) and the annual Summer Cantata Sunday (last Sunday in July or first Sunday in August). The choir’s repertoire includes everything from Palestrina to Proulx, from Willan to World Music. Interested singers should contact Mark Sedio, Director of Music at the church office 612-767-9230.
The Schola Cantorum is a small ensemble of 16 to 20 singers which focuses on music from the Renaissance and Baroque eras as well as compositions requiring a smaller group of voices. The ensemble sings for both 8:30 and 11:00 a.m. Sunday services once per month and rehearses twice a month on Wednesdays from 6:15 to 7:00 p.m. Selection is by audition/invitation. Interested individuals may contact Mark Sedio at the church office.
The Augsburg Choral Scholars program is designed to foster greater bonds between the music departments of Augsburg College and Central, two institutions with long histories of cooperation. Students in the program are music majors who plan on embarking on teaching, performing or church music careers. In addition to singing in the Central Choir, they will have opportunities to serve as cantors, to occasionally conduct the Central Choir and to do small choral ensemble work. For their participation the students receive modest stipends. The 2006-2007 Augsburg Choral Scholars are Molly Shortall (soprano I), Evelyn Tsen (soprano II), Nikki Lemire (alto), Andrew Kane (tenor) and Nils Tolpingrud (bass).
The following pages contain audio clips of the Central Choir. If you wish to listen to the Choir, please be patient while the file downloads. The LISTEN icon may appear to be broken until the file downloads. Listen to the Central Choir perform:
Campanas Central, Central’s bell choir rehearses weekly on Wednesdays at 6 p.m. September through mid-May. We use 5 octaves of handbells, 3 octaves of hand chimes and often use a variety of percussion instruments with the arrangements we play. There are 12 regular members in the group. The bell choir plays one Sunday a month September-May, once during the summer and for most major festivals. We are always looking for substitute ringers, and occasionally a position opens. Please contact Jane Lien, music associate at Central, at 612-767-9231 or email jlien@centralmpls.org if you are interested in ringing bells.
Central’s Musical Instruments
The organ in the main sanctuary was built by Casavant Frères, Lté in 1963. It numbers 108 ranks and serves as the main instrument in Central’s worship services.
Forty-seven bronze bells comprise the Central Lutheran Church carillon. The bells were cast in Annecy, France by the Fonderie Paccard, a 250 year old firm. The five lowest bells are mounted on a mechanism which allows them to swing, creating the peal we hear each Sunday at the conclusion of worship. The largest bell weighs 4,800 pounds. The carillon is located in a 139 foot tower, with a manual play station on the tower's sixth floor, and a remote electro-pneumatic keyboard in the east chapel. The carillon was played for the first time at Christmas services in 2005 and dedicated on Founder's Day, Palm Sunday, 2006, marking the 87th year of Central's ministry in the city. The tower and carillon are the gracious gift of an anonymous donor, thus completing the church building's original 1926 design.
A nine rank mechanical action instrument by Van Daalen (1970s) resides in the rear gallery. This small yet diverse instrument is used to accompany small ensembles such as the Cantorei and instrumental groups or soloists.
Central’s Steinway “B” piano was purchased in 2001 and is heard regularly during concerts and worship services.
Director of Music Mark Sedio came to Central in 2000 after serving for 16 years as Cantor at Mount Olive Lutheran Church in Minneapolis where he succeeded Paul Manz. In addition to directing Central’s choral ensembles, he serves as head organist and plans worship in cooperation with Central’s pastoral staff.
Mr. Sedio attended Augsburg College, the University of Iowa, St. John’s University and Luther Seminary. Frequent requests to present hymn festivals, workshops and clinics have taken him to all parts of the United States to Canada as well as Central Europe. His compositions for choir, organ, piano, solo voice and instrument ensembles are published by AMSI, Augsburg Fortress Publishers, Choristers Guild, Concordia Publishing House, MorningStar Music Publishers, and Selah Music Publishers. His hymns and psalm settings have been included in several denominational hymnals and hymnal supplements. Other publications include articles on liturgy and church music, multi-cultural music and worship aids, children in worship, vacation Bible school curricula and multi-cultural music.
A charter member of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians, Sedio served on the organization’s founding board and was elected its first Director for Ecclesiastical Concerns. He has also held positions in the Twin Cities Chapter of the American Guild of Organists and is active in the American Composers Forum and the Hymn Society of the United States and Canada.