2025 Peter Wessler Award Recipient Interview
Sarah Chang from Houston, Texas.
Lutheran Summer Music is pleased to present the recipient of the 2025 Peter Wessler Award: Sarah Chang from Houston, Texas.
Peter Wessler served as the LSM Academy Director for 17 years before his death in 2020. LSM established this award in his name to honor him and to ensure his legacy continues into perpetuity: he was known for his unwavering commitment to the LSM community, his care, his attention to detail, and his servant heart.
Sarah was chosen as the designee for this award due to her notable social and musical contributions to the community at large. As a multi-year returning student (2022-2025), Sarah befriended many new and returning students during her time at LSM. As a pianist, singer, and oboist, Sarah contributed musically to many ensembles and musical endeavors at LSM. Notably, she was a finalist in the 2023 Concerto Auditions, and as a piano primary, has played many solos, chamber ensembles, and large ensembles.
We asked Sarah to reflect on her experience as an LSM student. The following comments are a shortened transcription of a spoken interview.
What do you remember about your first summer at LSM? Did it take a while for you to get comfortable or figure things out?
I remember my first year of LSM pretty clearly. I remember walking into Berg, and MaryLynn [Dean Mennicke] was the first person I saw, and she said, "You’re Sarah Chang!! It's so good to see you." I remember walking from Berg to VUCA [Wehrenberg Hall, the student dormitory in 2022, and the Valparaiso University Center of the Arts] and feeling pretty lost. I saw a fellow and she said, "Oh, you're going the right way!" I felt so small, but you all made me feel so seen. I became really good friends with the people on my floor – that was an instant click. I remember in being such awe. It was the first time I'd heard live performances of classical music… the Tchaikovsky sextet, and Finlandia… I remember sitting in the front row and being blown away.
What really struck me, though: I walked into camp thinking it was going to be very competitive, and competitive in the negative sense. I did a lot of competitions growing up, so I never really collaborated with my musician peers.
I think I initially went into that piano studio class thinking, “Oh my goodness, I need to be better than all of these people.” The faculty really hammer that home – especially someone like Ms. Lee, someone who is so respectable and incredible at what she does – that was never her focus.
I joke with my friend Daniel about it now: “It took a long time for me to look at you as someone I want to collaborate with!” And so it was so nice to see that you can have friends who share the same talent as you, without it being threatening. That was one of the biggest things I took away. It’s so much more fulfilling to be partners with someone than to be their enemy.
What was it like for you to come back to LSM as a returning student?
I remember my first and second year being very cohesive – but I know my second year was great because it was like, “I’m starting to figure this place out!” I started to learn what it really means to be here, beyond the music, which is a big part of it. But I really got to see the love, and the community the second year around.
It almost blurs together in a way. I joke with my friends that I wake up at LSM and then go to sleep for a year, and then I wake up again at LSM, and I’m back home.
Tell us about some of the people you’ve met, and some of the connections you’ve made.
The connections that I’ve made at LSM are really valuable to me. It goes beyond surface-level – you’re not like, “Oh, how’s the weather today? What did you do this morning?” … You really get down to the meat of it as soon as you interact with the other students. Besides living and doing everything with each other, music plays a vital role in shaping the relationships. There is something deeply personal about music that is unique to each person. It is through the sharing and learning of one's musical experiences that I have found the most meaningful connections.
Sarah at LSM 2025
There’s also something to be said about what Cheryl Lemmons says – the best friend you can have is a musician, because they listen! And it goes both ways. The people I meet at LSM are so open-minded and so kind, in the sense of pure genuineness. The core of LSM is music, faith, and community. It is the three together that truly build the foundations of friendship at LSM.
Faith is a really big part of it. I’ve kind of assumed that when I walked into Christian bubbles that it will be “judge-y,” but LSM was so refreshing. I truly don't know where I would stand if I did not experience the loving faith of LSM. Chaplain Nathan expressed that the core of his belief is to love God and love others, and I never failed to see that in all of the people I met, whether student or faculty. Kindness is the norm at LSM, and I hope to emanate and search for similar communities in my day to day life.
Tell us about some of the musical experiences you’ve had at LSM.
I think my favorite experience between my four years is actually this past year, in my chamber group. It was such a blast. I played in a piano and string quintet and had the opportunity to work with Monte [Belknap, violin professor). It's so funny because I tend to have the assumption that if you are a really good teacher, you're going to be mean – and Monte was the opposite of mean! He is the funniest guy ever and it's a wonderful mix – he has expectations for us, but he's so lighthearted and caring as well. There is a big stereotype that musicians are burnt out, struggling perfectionists, who fight tooth and nail for anything. Monte could have easily enforced this stereotype on us, but he did the opposite, providing us with the tools we needed to love the piece.
I can think back to one specific moment: we were working on this piece, an exciting Scherzo movement, and in the middle of it, it goes to this trio that's gushy. It was two rehearsals before our recital where we said, “We should really add some rubato into this movement.” So we did! We didn't have to explain how this middle section made us feel, it just worked, as if our feelings were tethered! How grateful am I to have had this deeply human experience with my chamber group. What an indescribable feeling it was to move cohesively, grow together, and share a smile across the stage! That was something that really altered my brain chemistry! Such a silly day filled with frolicking, flower picking, and performing. It was one of my highlights of my four years.
There's something about that collaboration aspect. I’ve almost found to enjoy it more than the solo aspect … and I don't think I realized that until I was here. It’s the sort of empathy where you can feel each other's presence. It’s other-worldly in a way. I don't even know how to explain this to my friends who are non-musicians, because I never feel this feeling when I’m outside of music.
This was also the first year I did choir, both the Festival Choir and the Chapel Choir. Especially this year, I've gotten really comfortable with singing, but it feels so vulnerable. It must be a combination of being surrounded by your peers, and the vibrations that you feel from people's voices, but those were also deeply personal moments that I'm really glad I got to experience at LSM.
How has your time at LSM connected to your experiences back at home and in school?
I've noticed how much emotion and personal experiences can affect music. I go to a private Lutheran school, and I've had a lot of conversations with my band director at home. He sees music in the same way, that it is an extension of yourself, the rawest form of your feelings. So that has been really nice. Our school band does have a lot of students who just need the credit, but I did find a lot of value in when talking with my band character specifically – and he was also a student of LSM [Mr. Jonathan Held, LSM '94] when he was younger! He was a big proponent of it, “Yeah, see? It’s pretty life changing!” LSM has encouraged me to be more vulnerable in my musical settings and not in the sense of fear, but in the sense of, “We can make this happen. We think the same. We feel these same emotions. Let's make this happen.”
I wonder what it is about LSM that the majority of people are so passionate about what they do… I think it’s because partially because they're signing up for a four or two-week camp. But I wonder if it’s also because the stigma of showing emotion and being vulnerable is broken, like, the second you're at LSM. Especially with media now. When I’m burnt out, I go on the internet and my brain immediately turns off… and during the school year that’s all my brain can occupy. But when I’m at LSM, my brain feels more vibrant in a way. “Wow, my screen time is 30 minutes and that's my metronome!” There’s something about being at LSM that makes you really think: what does this mean? What does music mean to my life? What does life mean?
Worship is big part of it, too. The church I’m at [at home] has a contemporary band, and I enjoyed that growing up, but wow, to see all the music we do in a worship setting… There's just something so meditative about it. It really forces you to think inward. I think specifically about the pieces that Chapel Choir did, that did not refrain from addressing difficulties. I think it’s a combination of the really cool melodies and really thoughtful lyrics. I'm a big fan of the music, especially in the worship settings. I think starting morning prayer and ending with evening prayer is also so beautiful. That became something I looked forward to.
How would you describe the LSM community, and how do you see yourself as a part of it?
The LSM community is so unique. It is so deeply considerate of all the people around and I do think that, yes we do file into friend groups, but it never feels “clique-y.” I think the way I think about it is like I think of a piano, in the sense that each key is has three strings that it tunes to. I think of the LSM Community like a chord, and within those chords are individual notes and within the individual notes are individual strings. It’s very harmonious. And it's not just the students – that’s another thing. It doesn’t feel like, “Fellows are here, faculty are here, staff are here, and students are here.” Everyone just kind of blends together.
I don’t know if I see myself specifically as a leader. I think of my friend group as a whole – we were like, “Hey, this person’s new this year. Let’s invite them over and give them the lay of the land and hear where they come from and why they’re here.” In your first year, you’re getting used to yourself and being in the community, but I think as the years have gone on, it's like… what can I do for this community and how can I make it more welcoming? And how can I take what I learned from LSM into my day-to-day life?
LSM has taught me to treat others with much more kindness. Everyone is so complex, and you're only seeing a sliver of who they are when you first meet them. I remember my first year at LSM, I had all these assumptions, especially about faculty – like, wow, you're untouchable! But then I will sit down and have lunch with them, and come to find out, they have very similar struggles: “Sometimes I don't feel like I'm doing enough.” “You don’t feel like you're doing enough?! When you have a masters, a PhD?!” I think there's something to be said about the harm that can come when you assume things about people, and you don't ask them up front. I think that's really bled into my life – the ability to try to understand and seek empathy before judgment. That's something that I see from LSM.
LSM is also so goofy. There’s something about LSM – no one bats an eye. [My friend] Naomi and I racing to our dorm room, and plowing through GM [the dorm] or… us stopping to tango in the middle of VUCA. Sometimes when you sit in a practice room for a few hours and your brain, it's kind of falling behind, and you just kind of want to run around. But I can do that without feeling judged. I never feel like anyone at LSM will judge me. But it’s also very serious. You want to put on a good performance, so you're going to practice, and that is a big part of why I also really respect LSM. But it’s complemented with the silly stuff.
My counselor year was lovely. “I know you guys have got it all figured out. Just don’t make me turn a second eye or second glance.” It is very funny. I do sometimes feel like the counselors tend to be the ones that play by the rules, partially because the students are slowly getting crazier and the faculty are also slowly getting influenced by that craziness.
I remember distinctly a moment with Professor Nam. I remember my first interaction with her – wow, she’s this really good harpist and kind of intimidating. But then at the talent show, “Oh, there she is, dancing in a harp bag! Welcome to the dark side!” It really gets to everyone, not just the students. It's so funny. It's so special and so refreshing.
Sarah has graduated from high school, and has concluded her time as a student at LSM. In the fall, she will attend Trinity University in San Antonio, TX to study music and neuroscience. We wish her well in her future endeavors!
LSM has established the Peter Wessler Endowment Fund to support students like Nico who exemplify the same compassion and dedication to the LSM community that Peter embodied. To date, over 140 contributions have been gathered to support this fund.
Click below to learn more and support the Peter Wessler Endowment Fund.
