Hello! My name is Miles, and I’ve been accepted as a student for Lutheran Summer Music Academy & Festival (LSM), which is a four-week residential music program for high school students. I’m raising funds to help my family better afford this experience. Thank you for your support!

I love music, and I really enjoy playing piano and double bass! I’m in a ton of auditioned music groups at school, including chamber orchestra (1st chair), jazz band, & basketball band! I also play synth piano for our marching band. Additionally, I play bass in the (auditioned) Lincoln Youth Symphony outside of school. At church I sing in the adult choir, play bells in the bell choir, and play upright bass for our jazz group.

I had the opportunity to be a 10th grade All State Bassist, which was soooo cool. I got to play at the Lied Center! My favorite song that we played was “Cappricio Italien” by Tchaikovsky. In fact, I was just accepted to play in the All State Orchestra again this year, and am one of 12 bassists in the state to be accepted! I know it’s going to be sooo fun!

Last year I played bass for our school musical. This year and last, along with my sister, I attended Nebraska Wesleyan University’s Piano Day, which included several masterclasses. I performed “Nocturne in C Minor”, Op. 48, by Chopin on piano in 2025 and “Carnival of the Animals: Aquarium” by Saint-Saens, in 2024. For next year, I’ve been working on Rachmaninoff’s, “Prelude”, Op. 23, No. 4 and “Un Sospiro”, Trois Etudes de Concert No. 3, by Liszt.

I’ve taken piano lessons for 12 years, and have received superior ratings on piano at all the district music festivals I’ve attended. I even played piano for our talent show at school last year. I’ve also participated in numerous marching bands and festivals, including at the Halftime Alamo Bowl performance in San Antonio, TX, 2023.

I want to go to LSM because I want to grow as a musician and hope to double major in music and art history in college! I think attending LSM would be like being a music major for a month, which sounds pretty cool! I’m looking forward to working with music professors to learn more and improve and hope to make new friends, too.

If I can raise $1,000, I’ll earn a $500 match that LSM offers – and anything beyond that will help us a lot. My sister and I both want to attend. Thank you again for your help!

Lutheran Summer Music Academy & Festival (LSM) is the nation’s premier faith-based music academy for high school students. In addition to advanced musical instruction and numerous performance opportunities, LSM students form an intentional community, living together for four weeks on a Lutheran college campus. Since 1981, this unique and immersive program has guided the lives of young musicians who credit LSM as the starting place for their future careers and vocations.

LSM was founded to celebrate and extend the rich musical heritage of the Lutheran church. Our founders believed that by providing high-quality training and performance opportunities to young musicians they could cultivate a lifelong love of classical and sacred music, thus preserving these art forms for generations to come.

Miles - LSM 2026 Tuition

Help Miles get to LSM!