All Students in the MSM program have the unique opportunity for theological study with the diverse and experienced faculty of Luther Seminary. Music courses draw from the skills of the music faculty at St. Olaf College.

• Conducting Faculty
• Adjunct Faculty

Conducting Faculty

Anton Armstrong (Conducting)

Anton Armstrong received a B.M. in vocal performance from St. Olaf College, an M.M. in choral music from the University of Illinois, and a D.M.A. in choral conducting from Michigan State University. He is active as choral clinician and festival conductor (including numerous all-state choirs) throughout North America, the Caribbean, Scandinavia, Europe, and the Pacific Rim. Armstrong has special interest and experience in training the young and adolescent singer. He is an active member of the American Choral Directors Association and Choristers Guild (Past President, National Board of Directors) and former artistic director of Albermarle (the coeducational summer program of the American Boychoir School, Princeton, N.J.)

Dr. Aspaas received his M.M. in Choral Conducting from Michigan State University in East Lansing, and his B.M. in Voice Performance from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. Dr. Aspaas recently completed his Ph.D. in Choral Music Education at The Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida. He was the Interim Director of Choral Studies at Central Washington University. Prior to pursuing his doctorate, Dr. Aspaas was on the faculty of Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, MA. While there, he conducted the Concert Choir and Cantamus, taught private applied voice and choral conducting. Additionally, Dr. Aspaas served as Acting Director of Choral Activities in 2000-2001 and conducted the Glee Club and Chamber Choir, who performed the Durufle' Requiem and Bach's Mass in B Minor. Since 2001, Dr. Aspaas has sung with the Oregon Bach Festival Chorus in Eugene, Oregon, under the direction of Helmuth Rilling. He has recently performed as a soloist with Rilling and the Oregon Bach Festival Orchestra, the Bach Collegium of Fort Wayne, Indiana, the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, and the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra. He has participated in master classes with Ingeborg Danz, John Wustmann and Bradley Ellingboe, and remains active as an adjudicator, clinician and researcher.

Other Faculty

John Ferguson (Church Music, Organ, & Improvisation)

John Ferguson earned a B.M. from Oberlin, an M.M. from Kent State University, and a D.M.A. from the Eastman School of Music. Ferguson is one of America's most respected church musicians and teachers. He has been invited as a visiting professor by the faculties of the University of Notre Dame and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music. He is respected as a fine teacher and performer, and his work as an improviser and leader of congregational song has received national acclaim. Each year he presents many hymn festivals across the country both for local congregations and professional gatherings. Ferguson is the author or co-author of three books, numerous articles, and has a large number of published organ and choral compositions.

Catherine Rodland graduated cum laude with departmental distinction in organ performance from St. Olaf College in 1987. She received her MM and DMA from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY. While at Eastman she received the prestigious Performer's Certificate and the Ann Anway Award for excellence in organ performance. Catherine is a prizewinner in several competitions, including the 1994 and 1998 American Guild of Organists Young Artists Competition, and 1994 Calgary International Organ Competition, and first prize in the 1989 International Organ Competition at the University of Michigan. As a result of these competitions she has concertized extensively throughout the United States and Canada. Catherine has worked as Minister of Music at First Church of Christ in Glastonbury, Connecticut where she was responsible for seven choirs. She co-authored the book "Choristers' Training Program" for the Royal School of Church Music in America, a manual for children's choir education.

Adjunct Faculty

David Cherwin (Composing and Arranging for the Church)
Cantor, Mount Olive Lutheran Church, Minneapolis, MN

Elizabeth Shepley (Children's Choir Techniques)