Lead Me Home

A journey of remembrance and hope, this concert honors the beauty and fragility of life while offering a glimpse of the eternal home that awaits. Through music and movement, we explore the thin places between heaven and earth.

Featured works include Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's In Thee, O Lord, Thomas LaVoy's O Great Beyond (with texts by Rabindranath Tagore), and Stephen Paulus' beloved The Road Home. Additional selections by Minnesota composers Linda Kachelmeier and Marí Esabel Valverde round out the program.

Presented in collaboration with dance artist Eve Schulte, the concert will be performed in the Twin Cities and in St. Peter, Minnesota in partnership with Brandon Dean and the Gustavus Choir as NLC goes On The Road.

7:30pm - Thursday, October 30, 2025

Gustavus College Christ Chapel, St. Peter

A journey of remembrance and hope, this concert honors the beauty and fragility of life while offering a glimpse of the eternal home that awaits. Through music and movement, we explore the thin places between heaven and earth.

Featured works include Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's In Thee, O Lord, Thomas LaVoy's O Great Beyond (with texts by Rabindranath Tagore), and Stephen Paulus' beloved The Road Home. Additional selections by Minnesota composers Linda Kachelmeier and Marí Esabel Valverde round out the program.

Presented in collaboration with dance artist Eve Schulte, the concert will be performed in the Twin Cities and as a special run-out performance in St. Peter, Minnesota, in partnership with Brandon Dean and the Gustavus Choir.

A journey of remembrance and hope, this concert honors the beauty and fragility of life while offering a glimpse of the eternal home that awaits. Through music and movement, we explore the thin places between heaven and earth.

Featured works include Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's In Thee, O Lord, Thomas LaVoy's O Great Beyond (with texts by Rabindranath Tagore), and Stephen Paulus' beloved The Road Home. Additional selections by Minnesota composers Linda Kachelmeier and Marí Esabel Valverde round out the program.

Presented in collaboration with dance artist Eve Schulte, the concert will be performed in the Twin Cities and as a special run-out performance in St. Peter, Minnesota, in partnership with Brandon Dean and the Gustavus Choir.

4pm - Sunday, November 2nd, 2025

St. Andrew's Lutheran Church, Mahtomedi

In the stillness of winter, a miracle stirs—God makes a home among us. The National Lutheran Choir Christmas Festival celebrates the incarnation with music that invites hearts to open to the mystery of love dwelling in our midst.

The program features a new carol by Jocelyn Hagen alongside works by Mark Butler, Georgy Sviridov, and Cecilia McDowell, as well as cherished favorites including Carl Schalk's Before the Marvel of this Night. With the voices of the National Lutheran Choir, the NLC Children's Ensemble, instrumental chamber ensemble, and narration by Brian Newhouse, this beloved tradition includes the audience in a shared celebration of Christmas—offered in the sacred beauty of the Basilica of Saint Mary in the heart of Minneapolis.

4:30pm - Friday, December 12th, 2025

Basilica of Saint Mary, Minneapolis

In the stillness of winter, a miracle stirs—God makes a home among us. The National Lutheran Choir Christmas Festival celebrates the incarnation with music that invites hearts to open to the mystery of love dwelling in our midst.

The program features a new carol by Jocelyn Hagen alongside works by Mark Butler, Georgy Sviridov, and Cecilia McDowell, as well as cherished favorites including Carl Schalk's Before the Marvel of this Night. With the voices of the National Lutheran Choir, the NLC Children's Ensemble, instrumental chamber ensemble, and narration by Brian Newhouse, this beloved tradition includes the audience in a shared celebration of Christmas—offered in the sacred beauty of the Basilica of Saint Mary in the heart of Minneapolis.

1:30pm - Saturday, December 13th, 2025

Basilica of Saint Mary, Minneapolis

In the stillness of winter, a miracle stirs—God makes a home among us. The National Lutheran Choir Christmas Festival celebrates the incarnation with music that invites hearts to open to the mystery of love dwelling in our midst.

The program features a new carol by Jocelyn Hagen alongside works by Mark Butler, Georgy Sviridov, and Cecilia McDowell, as well as cherished favorites including Carl Schalk's Before the Marvel of this Night. With the voices of the National Lutheran Choir, the NLC Children's Ensemble, instrumental chamber ensemble, and narration by Brian Newhouse, this beloved tradition includes the audience in a shared celebration of Christmas—offered in the sacred beauty of the Basilica of Saint Mary in the heart of Minneapolis.

8pm - Saturday, December 13th, 2025

Basilica of Saint Mary, Minneapolis

As we transition from the stillness of winter into the promise of spring, we are invited to seek refuge in song—a sacred space where the soul finds its voice and a place to belong. Opening with movements from Fanny Hensel's Lobgesang and Shavon Lloyd's So Breaks the Sun, the program traces the arc from winter's stillness to spring's awakening.

Works by Jake Runestad, Under This Tree and Nada te Turbe, offer reassurance and belonging. At the heart of the program is Aaron McDermid's From Light to Light, commissioned by the National Lutheran Choir in 2008, with texts by Susan Palo Cherwien that invite us into stillness and the heartbeat of God.

Presented in the Twin Cities and on location in Moorhead, Minnesota, where the choir will partner with The Concordia Choir, Michael Culloton, conductor.

4pm - Sunday, March 22nd, 2026

Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, St. Paul

In the turning of the season, we rise—rooted in memory, reaching toward the future. This program bursts forth in song, celebrating the sacred bonds of community. In collaboration with Anton Armstrong and the St. Olaf Choir, we honor the living legacy of the Lutheran choral tradition in the United States.

Former NLC Artistic Director David Cherwien joins us as guest organist as we mark 40 years of the National Lutheran Choir. Works by J.S. Bach, F. Melius Christiansen, Larry Fleming, and David Cherwien bloom alongside new pieces by Earlene Rentz and Jennaya Robison. The concert concludes with a festival chorus of alumni and friends—celebrating four decades of song and the promise of many more to come as we proclaim, "For all that has been, Thank you. For all that is to come, Yes!" (Dag Hammarskjöld)

2pm - Saturday, May 2, 2026

Central Lutheran Church, Minneapolis