About Us
The Minnesota Center Chorale is committed to providing both its membership and audience
with a significant personal experience through the performance of great choral music.
The Minnesota Center Chorale (MCC) is a regional community chorus which begins its 45th season in the fall of 2017. MCC draws members throughout central Minnesota into this 80 member auditioned choir to perform a mixture of classical and contemporary music. The Minnesota Center Chorale is a member of United Arts of Central Minnesota. All the members are volunteers.
Sacred masterworks performed in recent seasons include The Creation (Die Schöpfung) by Franz Joseph Haydn; Requiem Mass settings by Johann Brahms, W.A. Mozart and Guiseppi Verdi; Mass settings by Charles Gounod, Ethel Smyth, and Amy Beach; and Te Deum settings by Zoltan Kodaly and Anton Bruckner.
MCC has performed unique and eclectic works such as Paul McCartney's Liverpool Oratorio and Benjamin Britten's Rejoice in the Lamb; and presented programs entitled A Civil War Portrait with musicians Cristina Seaborn and Paul Imholte; The Emerald Isle-with collaborative guests Ring of Kerry; The Reluctant Dragon – a free family concert held at The East-Side Boys and Girls Club; When Music Sounds -composed by Roger Towler and performed with the Bethlehem Strings; and We Remember – a memorial concert for 9/11 with the Land of Lakes Choirboys.
Lighter concerts include Postcards From Minnesota, with special guests St. John's Boys' Choir; Let's Go to the Movies!; A Broadway Valentine; and concerts with the St. Cloud Municipal Band - From Sea to Shining Sea, a concert to honor war veterans, and I Hear America Singing, a patriotic concert.
Past residencies include St. Cloud native Flannery Cunningham with the premiere of Nightlines, composer Caleb Wenzel with the premiere of the MCC commission of Psalm 150, a premiere of the commissioned work Songs of War and Peace by Judith Shatin, Korean American composer Yung-wha Son with Song of Diaspora, English composer David Fanshawe and a performance of his African Sanctus, and Mary McAuliffe from Ireland for a performance of her Return to Old Ireland.
Minnesota Center Chorale continues to seek ways to bring the art of choral singing to central Minnesota in unique and inspiring ways. We hope to see you at a future concert and to leave you with a moving and fulfilling musical experience.
Sacred masterworks performed in recent seasons include The Creation (Die Schöpfung) by Franz Joseph Haydn; Requiem Mass settings by Johann Brahms, W.A. Mozart and Guiseppi Verdi; Mass settings by Charles Gounod, Ethel Smyth, and Amy Beach; and Te Deum settings by Zoltan Kodaly and Anton Bruckner.
MCC has performed unique and eclectic works such as Paul McCartney's Liverpool Oratorio and Benjamin Britten's Rejoice in the Lamb; and presented programs entitled A Civil War Portrait with musicians Cristina Seaborn and Paul Imholte; The Emerald Isle-with collaborative guests Ring of Kerry; The Reluctant Dragon – a free family concert held at The East-Side Boys and Girls Club; When Music Sounds -composed by Roger Towler and performed with the Bethlehem Strings; and We Remember – a memorial concert for 9/11 with the Land of Lakes Choirboys.
Lighter concerts include Postcards From Minnesota, with special guests St. John's Boys' Choir; Let's Go to the Movies!; A Broadway Valentine; and concerts with the St. Cloud Municipal Band - From Sea to Shining Sea, a concert to honor war veterans, and I Hear America Singing, a patriotic concert.
Past residencies include St. Cloud native Flannery Cunningham with the premiere of Nightlines, composer Caleb Wenzel with the premiere of the MCC commission of Psalm 150, a premiere of the commissioned work Songs of War and Peace by Judith Shatin, Korean American composer Yung-wha Son with Song of Diaspora, English composer David Fanshawe and a performance of his African Sanctus, and Mary McAuliffe from Ireland for a performance of her Return to Old Ireland.
Minnesota Center Chorale continues to seek ways to bring the art of choral singing to central Minnesota in unique and inspiring ways. We hope to see you at a future concert and to leave you with a moving and fulfilling musical experience.
Artistic Director & Conductor
Lukas Perry
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Lukas Perry is a versatile musician with experience as a conductor, keyboardist, and music scholar. He recently earned his Master of Music in Choral Conducting and Master of Arts in Music Theory from the University of Minnesota. There, he conducted choral ensembles and taught music theory courses at all levels. Perry is currently the Director of Music and Liturgy at the historic Church of the Assumption in downtown St. Paul. Previously, Perry was the organist at Good Samaritan United Methodist Church in Edina where he also co-directed the youth choir.
Perry has worked with the Minnesota Chorale and Oratorio Society of Minnesota in the preparation of major works such as Brahms’ Requiem, Verdi’s Requiem, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, and a program of “Great Opera Choruses.” During the summer of 2015, Perry received a Graduate Research Grant from the University of Minnesota to study and perform the choral music of Anton Bruckner in Passau, Germany. In March 2017, he was invited to present his research on Bruckner at the South-Central Society for Music Theory Conference in Memphis, TN. Prior to relocating to the Twin Cities, Perry served as Conducting Intern for the Seattle Bach Choir and Music Director at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Gig Harbor, WA. He graduated summa cum laude from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA, with a Bachelor of Arts in Music and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics. |
Our Accompanist
Sean Jacobson
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Sean Jacobson is excited to be entering his third year as accompanist for the MCC. Jacobson graduated from Saint John's University in 2013 with a degree in Instrumental Music Education, studying piano with Dr. Ed Turley and trumpet with Dr. Dale White. He remains an active pianist and trumpeter, regularly playing with numerous groups in the region, including the St. John's Boys' Choir, Amadeus Chamber Symphony, St. Cloud Symphony Orchestra, GREAT Theatre, Curtain Call Community Theater, and Great Northern Theatre. He also has experience as a liturgical musician, having served as organist for a number of churches and regularly playing trumpet at St. Mary's Cathedral. Sean is in his fourth year teaching elementary band for the St. Cloud Catholic Community Schools.
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Board of Directors |
President: Laura Kangas
Secretary: Tom Ramsey Treasurer: Andrea Miller Elizabeth Connolly Beverly Fiereck Andrea Harrell Lila Heins Keith Larson Anne McCarney Don Neu Kayla Goering Artistic Director & Conductor: Lukas Perry Operations Coordinator: Michelle Dettmann Accompanist: Sean Jacobson Stage Management: Steven Holste & Mark Braun Grant Coordinator: Jestine Ware Past President: Laura Capes *MCC is currently seeking 1 or 2 new Board members with energy and vision! If you would like to be considered for the Board of Directors, please send an inquiry email to: mcc.coordinator@gmail.com. |