History of the Choir

by:  Van Williams

                                                  Although I am not a writer or historian, I have been asked to write a history, as I remember it, of the choir at Valley Presbyterian Church.

In 1987, when I became a member of the choir, Joe Hawkins was the minister, Max Irwin was the organist, and Alice Knuth was the director of the choir.  Rehearsals were held in what is now the Sweet Family Room, named for George and Mary Sweet.  George was an associate minister and helped form the church in its beginning.  Rehearsals were at 7:00 P.M. Thursday evenings.  There was plenty of room, as the choir size at that time was about 25-30 persons on a regular basis.  Alice favored anything written or arranged by John Rutter; so needless to say, we sang many of his anthems.

 The organ console was on the floor toward the south entrance or on the congregation’s right.  It was a 2 rank Rogers organ that was, I believe, donated to the church when the church was built.  The pipes on the northeast wall are the original pipes.  Later Jean Christianson, a member of the choir, donated money to refurbish them and make them usable with the new organ purchased later.  The original robes were a gift from a member of the congregation.

Alice remained the director for several years after I became a member.  Max decided that he would retire and had a suggestion for a replacement that he could recommend.  He suggested a music major at the U. of A, David Barrela.

About the year 1991, David became our organist.  He was a very good organist.  He also had a fine baritone voice.  He sang some lead roles in the Santa Fe Opera during the season.  David was a likeable young man and was our organist for approximately 2 years after Max retired.  Max continued to return from time to time to help with vacations and such.

It was about this time that Glen Richards decided that Green Valley needed a concert series and that Valley Presbyterian Church should sponsor and host the series. .  I was on the Worship and Music Committee with Glen at the time.   He donated $1,800 as seed money to start the program.  Many members from the Worship and Music Committee, as well as choir members, helped work at the concerts.  At the beginning, Joe Hawkins introduced the concerts.  George Sweet did one or two before I began to MC the concerts.  These were all free concerts with a free will offering to support the expenses.  We had to have the contracts for the performances signed approximately one year in advance due to scheduling.  Max was a great help in selecting the concerts in the beginning.  These concerts were all contracted performers from out of town.  Nancy Davis Booth, with Max as her accompanist, was the very first concert.

 Alice Knuth then retired and David Barella took over as both organist and choir director.  That is when we moved the organ console to the center of the choir loft.  It was facing the windows to allow David to direct the choir and play the organ simultaneously.  During the time David was the director, we had many paid soloist from Tucson, most of them graduate students in music.  We presented a concert of George Gershwin numbers.  It was an ambitious undertaking, with the men in tuxedos and the ladies in formal attire.

 David Barella left quite abruptly, so we were without a director or an organist.  Tom Williams, who was the first choir director when the church was formed, came out of retirement.  He sang tenor in the choir quite often, and good old Max returned to play the organ until we could find an organist.

Although I had met Don Booth at Nancy’s concert, I did not know him well.  Joe Hawkins had married Nancy and Don when he was preaching at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Tucson.  Joe suggested that Don might be a prospect for the position of Music Director.  Don had excellent musical talent and experience.  The Worship and Music Committee and Joe Hawkins met with Don at Mary Hanshaw’s house for the interview.  He was hired as Director of Music. Max was still helping us out at the organ, but was still hoping to fully retire.  He had the ability to step in at anytime he was needed.  An interesting thing happened while Max was our organist.  He suggested to Don Booth that the choir might process “ooing,” as we do today.  Everyone seemed to like his idea.

A terrible thing happened about this time.  Dr. Johnson, professor of organ at the U. of A. had played a recital at Valley Presbyterian Church.  On his return trip to Tucson after the concert, he was murdered.  Dr. Johnson played our organ at its dedication when the organ was first installed.  After this tragedy, it was decided to change our choir rehearsal time to Thursday afternoon so that any Tucson musicians participating with us would not have to drive back to Tucson at night.

We were still without a permanent organist.  Joe Carrol, an associate minister for many many years, mentioned that his daughter, Karen Hill who lived in Florida was an organist.  She and her husband, Dick, were planning to move to Green Valley.  Karen sent Don a tape of her playing the organ and several of us listened to it.  With the approval of the minister and session, an offer was made and accepted.  Karen became our organist. 

During this period, we purchased our present robes through a store in Tucson named Trinity.  We have since added many more robes to that original purchase.

 About the year 1995 or 1996 we were investigating purchasing a new organ. We were looking at Rogers and Allen organs.  Many trips were made to see and listen to demonstrations.  The organ committee worked hard on this project developing the pros and cons of each instrument.  We were equally divided on the two choices.  As chairman of the organ committee, I made the presentation to the Session.  It was decided that the time was not right to purchase a new organ.  We tabled the organ project for the time being.

With Don Booth as our director, we received additional bonuses.  Nancy Davis Booth was in our choir, as was her mother, Dot Davis and Don and Nancy’s daughter, Erin.

Our concerts sponsored by Valley Presbyterian continued to be popular during this period.  We had the ASU Concert Band and the U. of A. Choral group, conducted by Dr. Maurice Skones, a former professor of Kay Albrecht’s.  I had been introducing the concerts, but this time I asked Kay to introduce Dr. Skones.  She almost didn’t do it because it was so emotional for her.  She did a great job with a few tears.

While Don Booth was the director, the Green Valley Concert Association wanted to move their Steinway piano from West Center.  They did not feel that is was being properly cared for.  They approached Valley Presbyterian Church to see if it could be placed in our sanctuary.  Don and I talked about it and took it to the Session.  It seemed to me to be a large liability, but the Session decided to do it anyway.  So we took care of their piano for several years.  We, of course, used the piano while it was in our care.  They, being the Green Valley Concert Association, began having more and more concerts in our sanctuary.  There were all sorts of complications with this arrangement and eventually the GVCA decided to remove their piano from our sanctuary.

In the fall of 1998, Don Booth resigned as Director of Music and we now needed to find a replacement.  How fortunate can we be?  Kay Albrecht had been in thechoir, was also in a Barbershop Quartet, Mostly Madrigals, had a great background as a music teacher, played the piano very well, as well as other instruments.  She had more than the qualifications we needed.  Tom Bunting chaired the Personnel Committee and I was chairman of the Worship and Music Committee at that time.  Kay was hired.  Karen Hill  was the organist and Darlene Herrick was our pianist.                                                                           

Joe Hawkins retired as senior pastor in 1999 and George Pike was named interim pastor. 

George served for 18 months in this capacity.  In 2001, Karen Hill resigned as our organist and Raymond Ryder was hired to replace her.  Raymond was a graduate student at the U of A.  He was studying organ and was already a marvelous pianist and accompanist.  Raymond was a great addition to our music program. 

At this time our staff was complete again.  Kylene Joplin was named our librarian and has done a magnificent job keeping our music and all of us straightened out.  When Raymond received his PHD, we had a choir dinner and several of us

 participated in a mock ceremony to present him his hood and degree.   

We had our first Favorite Anthems concert while George Pike was serving as our interim pastor.  They have continued to the present, usually held in February while our winter visitors are still with us.  The choir continues to change as older members leave us and new ones replace them.  During the winter months the choir loft is very full.                                                  

 George Pike asked me if I would activate the organ committee.  We were still undecided between Rogers and Allen for the organ of our choice.  Our committee now had a few new members.  We visited several more organ demonstrations.  The cost was about the same for each organ.  It was decided to go with the Rogers since they had the more convenient service for our needs.  The approval was given by the Session and in 2 to 3 weeks the money was raised for the new organ.

Our hymnals were in bad shape, were out of print and needed to be replaced.  We had a drive to raise the money for the new hymnals.  With permission from Joan Richards, the money that her husband gave for the beginning of the concerts was used in the purchase of the hymnals.

 George Pike started a fund raiser in the form of a tree of Life, which is on the wall in the Hawkins Spiritual Life Center.  These funds were to be used in the building of the Spiritual Life Center, the choir robe room, music director’s office, and the renovation of the old choir rehearsal room, now the Sweet Family Room. 

 After 18 months with George Pike as our interim pastor, in 2002, John Ross was named our senior pastor.  All of the above projects were completed during John Ross’s time as pastor.

 The Favorite Anthems concerts continued each February, each one a little more ambitious than the previous one.  Our choir size at this time was about 100 during the winter months. The Green Valley Concert Association had decided that their piano should be removed from our sanctuary, and we agreed.  We wanted our own piano and proceeded to purchase a Steinway.  The debate was whether we needed a 7 foot or a 9 foot.  One afternoon Darlene and Raymond played the two sizes in the sanctuary for our congregation.  Steinway had loaned us the pianos for this demonstration.  There was no doubt in anyone’s mind which one we should purchase after hearing both sizes in our sanctuary.  The 9 foot won the vote.  Since Steinways normally come in black and we wanted brown to match all the other wood in our sanctuary, our order took longer than usual.  The wait was worth it!! Our grand is a magnificent instrument!

Raymond and Darlene did an organ/piano concert which Gary Ray recorded and the CD was sold with the proceeds going to benefit the choir fund.  Gary Ray had been and still is, recording our concerts.  He does such a great job recording and editing our concerts.

Darlene decided to retire as our pianist and her backup, Sharane English took over as pianist and assistant director.  Sharane had been singing in the tenor section. Darlene joined the alto section and was available to help out as accompanist when needed.

 In 2006, the choir was invited to sing in Carnegie Hall along with the choir from Catalina United Methodist Church in Tucson and some members from other churches in Tucson as well as some from the Phoenix area.  Jonathan Ng, director of Catalina United Methodist Choir was the director.  The concert was in May of 2007.

Myra and I put together a fund campaign directed at the residents of La Posada who were members of Valley Presbyterian.  The fund was used to underwrite a concert by Nancy Davis Booth.  The revenue from the concert was used to assist in expenses of those members of the choir who wanted to attend the performance in New York but might need financial help.  Everything went well and the trip and performance were successful.

 The years seem to go by too quickly and all of a sudden Kay Albrecht has been our choir director for 10 years.  Several people in the choir decided it would be nice to celebrate this anniversary by commissioning Mark Hayes, Kay’s favorite composer and arranger, to write an anthem dedicated to Kay.  It was the best kept secret of the decade. 

Mark wrote “Into the Flame.”  A small group of us rehearsed at Darlene Herrick’s home for several weeks 1-2 times a week before the Favorite Anthems Concert where it was to be presented and performed by the group.  No one but the group knew anything of this project until the night of the concert.  Mark Hayes flew in the day of the concert.  This was the first time Mark had heard the number sung.  He directed the group of singers for the presentation.  Bob Herrick delivered him to the church after the concert had started, and he sat in the back of the overflow area so that Kay would not see him prior to his introduction.  The group who performed the piece for the first time were made up of the following members of the choir:  Sharane English, who directed the rehearsals and accompanied us for them, Eloise Fredrickson, Cyndy Hargreaves, Beth Ray, Ardith Nelson, Darlene Herrick, Marge Lotz, Dianne Bigham, Ron Bell, Phil Lotz, Bill Kuschel, Wayne Brumm and Van Williams.  Raymond Ryder accompanied us at the concert.  This was a lot of people to know of the project and still keep it a secret until the night of the performance.  Cyndy Hargreaves introduced the number and Mark Hayes and Kay was truly surprised.  The next morning the whole choir rehearsed the number and performed it at the afternoon Favorite Anthems Concert under Mark’s direction.  This was February, 2008.

In 2009, Raymond Ryder resigned as organist.  His teaching load had grown and he felt he was spending too much time commuting from Tucson.

The choir committee began a search for a new organist. Larry Grove and Mary Wilsted shared the job for several months as we continued to interview applicants for the job.  Others filled in on the sound board when Larry was playing the organ. 

 Finally, there was an answer to our prayers in the form of Dr. Fred Fox.  He had been retired a few months and had read the ad.  What a find he was!  He has a marvelous music background in organ, piano, and voice education as well as performance.  Fred lived in Tucson at the time he was hired, but has since moved to Green Valley.

 In 2008, Kay came up with the idea of an outreach program to the community in the form of the Joyful Noise Academy.  This was directed at children of the area.   The numbers have not been large, but it is amazing how much the children learned.  In 2010, the Orff instruments were purchased to be used in the Joyful Noise Academy.  A group of adults called the Orff Angels was formed to also learn to play the instruments and become an outreach to the community.

After John Ross retired and George Pike again helped as interim minister, Larry DeLong was named as the new senior pastor of Valley Presbyterian Church.  He was hired in December but did not take the position until the first of the year in     2010.

In the fall of 2010, the choir purchased new stoles.  They have been used for special occasions, like our Favorite Anthems Concerts and special services.

These notes on the history of the choir are but recollections of the time and sequence of events as I remember them.  Van O. Williams.