Michael Plagerman

Director of Sacred Music

Michael Plagerman is a life-long student of the church’s music, whose career now spans fourteen years of ecclesiastical service. Michael holds degrees from Pacific Lutheran University, the University of Notre Dame, and Cornell University where he studied organ with Paul Tegels, Craig Cramer, Christoph Mantoux, Annette Richards and Nathan Laube among others, as well as choir direction with Brian Galante, Richard Nance, and Stephen Spinelli. He has received numerous awards for his work, including the James D. Holloway Scholarship and the Craig Cramer Award in Organ Performance. Michael’s scholarship focuses on the sounds of the late nineteenth century organ in Boston and their application to music of that period.

As former graduate assistant director of choirs at both Notre Dame and Cornell, Michael has a deep passion for choral music throughout the ages, particularly as performed by young adults. He is also particularly invested in the musical and spiritual cultivation of youth through liturgical ministries including choral singing, altar serving, and organ playing.

In his work as a church musician, Michael has advocated for a renewed reading of, and appreciation for, the documents of the Second Vatican Council and for a reassertion of the dignified and reverent celebration of the Mass as they describe. This work involves the formation and education of congregations, the vigorous encouragement of congregational participation, and excellence in non-musical liturgical ministries.

In addition to his life-long vocation to the service of God and the church through music, Michael is an avid hobby woodworker and enjoys spending time driving tractors and chasing cows on his family’s farm in eastern Washington