David Mennicke - Crossing the Bar

Crossing the Bar

November, 2018

This concert marks the centenary of the armistice of the First World War. The concert is built on major pieces by French and English composers: Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924) and Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) who both lived through The Great War. Rather than expressing fear of death, Fauré’s Requiem expresses his view of death as, in his words, “a happy deliverance, an aspiration towards happiness above.” Vaughan Williams’ Five Mystical Songs puts to music Easter season poems by George Herbert (1593-1633) that celebrate the Resurrection and end with a triumphant antiphon of praise, “Let all the world in every corner sing: my God and King!” The theme of this concert is based on the poem “Crossing the Bar” by Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809-92). While an elegy, it has a tone not of sorrow but one embracing death as an inevitable part of life’s journey—not as an end, but as a new beginning. Join us for this special concert with guest conductor Dr. David Mennicke, organist Kraig Windschitl, and harpist Rachel Brandwein, as we remember one armistice and hope for more to come.

David L. Mennicke

David Mennicke

Dr. David L. Mennicke is Professor of Music and Chair of the Concordia University, St. Paul Music Department, where he has been Director of Choral Studies since 1989.  Mennicke encourages at Concordia a musical community that nurtures each student from the beginner to the accomplished musician.  His teaching expertise covers choral conducting, voice training, music education, church music, musical theatre, and music arranging.  Under his direction, the Concordia University Christus Chorus has performed for the national College Music Society, regional MENC and state ACDA conferences. The Christus Chorus has been invited to perform with the Minnesota Orchestras seven times, and toured throughout the United States and to Africa, Europe, and South Korea.

Mennicke is in demand as a guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator, having served in over 200 festivals, including the Minnesota All-State Children’s and Men’s Choirs. He sang in the Grammy Award-winning Oregon Bach Festival Chorus, and is a tenor section leader with the Minnesota, SPCO, and Beethoven Festival Chorales.  His choral anthems, services, music education materials, and articles published by CPH, Morningstar, the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians, Lutheran Forum, and the AGEHR. Mennicke is also an active church musician, directing the Senior, Men’s, and Youth Choirs at Bethlehem Lutheran Church (ELCA) in Minneapolis.