Lasker Summer Music Festival Vision/Charter

LSMF was founded in 1998. It was opened with a concert by pianist Lloyd Arriola. As we ate, prayed, thought, and made music together, the experience of fellowship with like-minded musicians impressed us deeply. When the Festival came to its close we were all sad to leave as we had each sensed God in fresh and intimate ways in Lasker .


In 1999 the number of performers grew from 4 to 7, and it has continued to grow ever since. Dr. Vern Falby of Peabody Conservatory led a discussion on how we experience God through music. Dr. Falby continues to shape the spiritual and musical tone of the Festival through his yearly contributions of time and inspiration.


Over the past decade we have presented series of performances dedicated to the music of classical masters such as Beethoven, Bach, and Brahms. We have also performed the music of innovative 20th Century composers such as Henry Cowell, Charles Ives, Terry Riley and Eliot Carter, as well as giving premieres of new works by resident composers including Scott Eric Petersen’s Man of Sorrows, Philip Honenberger’s Logic Suites Nos. 1 and 2, and Mark Lackey’s Lasker Sketch.


In October of 2001, we established the first LSMF website and started the Lasker Summer Music Festival E-journal to further the work of the Festival year-round. In February of 2007, Jeff Prillaman designed this new and improved site, for which we are very, very thankful.


One of the most unique aspects of the Festival is that it operates as a type of gift economy. Performers, speakers, hosts, and audience members freely share what they have to offer, trusting that all will be blessed by the experience. We are forever grateful to the people of Lasker, and particularly to the members of Lasker Baptist Church for their graciousness that never fails to minister to us.