Sean C. Morgan
A retired Albany man has signed on to direct the annual Singing Christmas Tree this year.
The Singing Christmas Tree had been looking for a director since David Dominy resigned several weeks ago to spend more time with his family.
Don Bacher responded to a report in the Albany Democrat-Herald and met with members of the choir two weeks ago. Last week, he met the board and helped select this year’s theme, “Star-Led, Wonder Bound,” the title of a piece of music he submitted to the board.
“I actually had been thinking for quite awhile it would be fun to do something like this,” Bacher told the board. He tried to direct choir at Albany Mennonite Church for the past couple of years, but with schedule conflicts it was always difficult to get the same people at each practice.
“Then there was the article,” he said. “I looked at my wife. I said, ‘What do you think?’ So I responded to the notice in the newspaper.”
He called and met with representatives of the choir at a restaurant in Albany.
“The fit felt right with his thoughts concerning what he wanted from a choir and what we need in a director,” said board President Sue Olson. “We are genuinely excited about the partnership.”
Bacher said he was looking for “committed” people who want to perform “high-quality music.”
“Church choirs are fine if you have a core group that comes to every practice and represents the voice of the choir,” he said, adding that the only time he has ever had that, though, has been when he was teaching.
Bacher holds an undergraduate degree in secondary music education and a master’s degree in education. He has taught in the public and private school systems in Indiana and Iowa. He also taught for two years in Jamaica. He has directed choirs, bands and strings. He has directed numerous choirs and served as a chorister for more than 40 years at his church.
In Jamaica, he taught a pre-vocational high school music, he said. “They were there because they wanted to do something in music. Most of the kids I taught went into the tourist industry.” After returning to the United States, he taught in Christian schools and took a choir of about 25 teens on tour.
He is looking forward to getting back into it with a dedicated group, Bacher said. “I can hardly wait for September.”
He enjoys fun music as well as one or two numbers that challenge a choir, he said. He enjoys using familiar tunes performed differently or joining familiar songs that people may not imagine being performed together.
“Those are fun – to take something familiar, old hat, and make it something interesting,” he said.
He likes to stress the fun and help the “off-and-onners” become “onners,” Bacher said.
“The bar is high,” he said. “We’ll have fun, but we’ll work hard.”
The Singing Christmas Tree performs three shows annually the first weekend of December. There is no admission charged for the community event. The choir is all-volunteer and always seeking new members and volunteer help.
For more information or to join the choir, contact Olson at (541) 367-4639, visit the Sweet Home Singing Christmas Tree on Facebook or e-mail Olson at [email protected].