If a funeral chapel doesn't sound like a nice place to enjoy a concert, then you clearly haven't been to the historic Lakewood Memorial Chapel in Minneapolis — which has announced the return of its popular Music in the Chapel series starting in April.
Folk-rock troubadour David Huckfelt (known from of the Pines) and singer/songwriter Annie Humphrey (from the Leech Lake Indian Reservation) will pair up for the April 3 kickoff date inside the ornate sanctuary at the picturesque Lakewood Cemetery, near Lake Bde Maka Ska in south Minneapolis. The two renowned tunesmiths were last seen together at last summer's Water Is Life Festival with Bon Iver in Duluth.
Subsequent performers in the chapel's one-per-month series also include: the Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus Chamber Singers (June 5); women's a capella group Heartfelt (July 10); Americana twangers Maygen & the Birdwatcher (Aug. 14); gospel/R&B great Robert Robinson (Sept. 11), and Siama's Congo Roots with soukous guitar master Siama Matzungidi (Oct. 2). The May date is still being finalized following a cancellation. See the full list below.
Tickets for all of the Sunday afternoon concerts (3 p.m. showtimes) are on sale now via Lakewoodcemetery.org or Eventbrite.com and range from $15-$30 advance prices.
In the spirit of Los Angeles' popular Hollywood Forever Cemetery concert series, Lakewood's Music in the Chapel programming began in 2018 as "simply a good way for people to come in and enjoy this beautiful setting," the cemetery's president Rob Gjerde said at the time. The series was a hit through 2019, but COVID forced it to go on hiatus the next two years.
The afternoon concerts take place under the 65-foot dome at the center of the Byzantine-style historic structure, built in 1910 by renowned architect Harry Wild Jones with a 10-million-piece mosaic interior. The building holds about 160 people for the shows and is always alcohol-free. Star Tribune photojournalist Jeff Wheeler captured the divine setting in a 2018 online gallery.
Here's the full list of concerts confirmed in the series:
- April 3: David Huckfelt and Annie Humphrey
- May 1: TBA
- June 5: Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus Chamber Singers
- July 10: Heartfelt
- Aug. 14: Maygen & the Birdwatcher
- Sept. 11: Robert Robinson
- Oct. 2: Siama's Congo Roots
- Nov. 6: Lumina
- Dec. 4: The Champagne Drops
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