25 Years of Service: a Fond Farewell to Doug Geston

Doug Geston, June 2023

2023 was the final summer Doug Geston, owner of Westmark Productions, shared his audio and visual expertise with the LSM community. Doug is happily retiring after 25 years of recording concerts, recitals, and worship services. Thousands of LSM students, faculty, and families have enjoyed Doug’s high-quality recordings as a way to encapsulate their profound experiences each summer.

In a farewell reflection, Doug shared his experiences with LSM, how his work changed over the years, and the impact and importance of LSM:

My first LSM was at Luther College in 1999. I've recorded and, more recently, livestreamed during every LSM session since—a total of 24 seasons (it would have been 25 had it not been for the COVID 19 pandemic). In that time, I've worked with seven executive directors and countless faculty and staff people, including stalwarts such as Cheryl Lemmons, Paul Morton, and the late Peter Wessler, who is deeply missed by all who knew him. I remember Cantor Chad Fothergill when he was a student and worship assistant, and many other students, interns, and fellows now in leadership positions in their home communities and with LSM.

In those 24 years, a lot has changed. During the early years, it was not uncommon to generate 50 or more different CD titles for LSM every summer, and recording, editing, and order fulfillment kept the Westmark crew very busy. As music consumption habits moved away from CDs, the number of orders dwindled but the amount of work required to produce the CDs remained nearly the same. We briefly flirted with digital downloads, which also fell from favor, but interest in livestreaming was rising. In 2018 with the help of generous donors, we embarked on a new chapter, moving beyond audio-only recording to both audio and video recording and livestreaming of Festival Week events in the Valparaiso University chapel. That expanded the next year to include the half-session concert and the Jazz Ensemble concert. Meanwhile, LSM personnel handled livestreaming of the Duesenberg Recital Hall events using Valparaiso's equipment. These combined efforts made nearly all LSM performances and worship services available to anyone, anywhere in the world, and this has been the norm ever since.

Doug (right) at LSM 2005

One of the attractive aspects of LSM has been its technical "bigness" and the freedom I've been given to deploy and use lots of equipment, often feeling like a kid playing in an amazing sandbox. I've been able to experiment with different recording techniques and have learned ways to improve almost every aspect of my work. Surprisingly, and for the most part, academy directors, event managers, and chaplains over the years let me put up forests of tall microphone stands and cameras amid performance and worship spaces. It was physically and mentally challenging work. But with that challenge came the gift of a singular focus on a clear and all-consuming purpose. Research shows that people report being happiest when they experience that kind of focus. I can attest to having felt an abundance of sweat-drenched, sore-muscled, fatigued, brain-cramped, yet undeniable happiness. My LSM experiences checked all the boxes of author Daniel Pink's “three fundamentals of human motivation”: autonomy, mastery, and purpose.

Doug Geston, Nick Benson, and Walt Boyd, of Westmark Productions, livestreaming the 2023 LSM Festival Orchestra Concert

Apart from the technical elements and job satisfaction, the true highlight of every summer at LSM has always been the worship services. In my work, I hear band, orchestra, and choir concerts, recitals, and other musical performances day in and day out. Ensembles I work with range from elementary school choirs to professional orchestras. LSM performances are nearly always best-in-class, but the quality, depth, and meaningfulness of LSM worship is unique. I think it's impossible (or nearly so) to experience worship at LSM and not have one's expectations for that form of communal engagement permanently raised. I grew up in the Lutheran tradition and some of my closest friends have been clergy and church musicians, yet worship at LSM moves me in ways I've not experienced elsewhere and serves, in the words of Bishop John Shelby Spong, as a “pathway to the Divine.” And lest any of us forget, LSM worship includes the Jazz Mania concerts where we are lifted up by the ebullient "Gospel According to Saint Paul Morton." Ain't gonna find that anywhere else!

All these things and more elicit a feeling of deep gratitude for my many wonderful years working at LSM. Most of all, I will miss the genuinely kind, funny, talented, and thoughtful people that LSM attracts (and much less so the aforementioned sweat, sore muscles, fatigue and brain cramps). It has been a substantial and unforgettable chapter in my life.

We give heartfelt thanks to Doug for his service with LSM and his work in the music community at large. Through his extraordinary efforts, the joy and music of LSM has reached countless people around the world. Doug’s kind and humble demeanor, accompanied by his musician-focused approach and exceptional quality work, has blessed the LSM community in more ways than can be named.

Here’s to a hard-earned rewarding and relaxing retirement!