From its beginnings in 1922, the founders of La Sierra Academy had more in mind than just establishing another high school in Southern California. The location and amount of land presumed a future that included expansion and creation of an Adventist school of higher education for the region.

Although they did not initially have General Conference approval to establish a college, the early success of the school and its aggressive listing of classes beyond a 4-year high school curriculum in all areas, including music, led to junior college standing within its first five years.¹

Grace Nelson, a graduate in piano from Pacific Union College, was hired to organize a music program when the school opened in the fall of 1922. Within two years she was teaching music theory and music history classes as well as more than 40 keyboard students, using two used pianos and a reed pump organ.

She had started an "orchestra" at the beginning of that year that included violins, saxophones, clarinets, cornets, a "base horn," drum, and chimes. While it probably sounded more like a band than an orchestra, it was the school's first instrumental ensemble and was well received.²

At the annual recital given in March that year the highlight of the evening was a 12-hand number played on two pianos by six young women. Thursday chapels were devoted to music appreciation when students listened "to everything from reveries to the Dance of the Demons."³

When that occurred in 1927 and the school was renamed Southern California Junior College, she had a program in place to prepare students to teach music in the church's grade schools and academies. Few students, however, chose to complete it.⁴

Ruth Havstad was director of the vocal/choral program when SCJC began its first year. Havstad, a soprano and experienced conductor and teacher, had good musical instincts. An attractive young woman with a warm and open personality, she, like Baldwin, was popular with the students.

She developed a choral program that included a chorus, girls' and boys' glee clubs, and, eventually, a select a cappella choir of 28 known as the Choral Society. Over the next five years, her groups and their extensive touring established a reputation of musical excellence for the college. One of Havstad's hallmarks was the presenting of a concert each year with a theme that included choral music, solos, and readings.⁵

A year after Havstad began her work, William Beisel, a violinist, was hired to teach strings and develop an orchestra and band. Beisel was a versatile musician who could teach a number of instruments. While development of a band lagged, during his seven-year tenure he established an orchestra that performed often on campus.⁶

From the opening of SCJC there was interest in validating its college status through accreditation, a step being considered by several Adventist colleges. Some church members and leaders viewed this goal with alarm, concerned about the effect contact with the world would have on their schools.

However, when the church's medical school at Loma Linda made graduation from an accredited school a requirement for entrance, the need to comply became imperative. Both PUC and SCJC obtained accreditation in 1933, the first Adventist schools to do so.⁷

Accreditation was only one of a number of changes at SCJC during the 1930s. As the decade unfolded, the number of high school students decreased sharply while college students increased to over 400. Two-year programs were expanded to three years, academic departments were created and the school was renamed La Sierra College in 1939.⁸

The students immediately launched a one-month campaign to raise $3,762.42 for five new grand pianos. Two years later, they helped raise funds to install an organ in HMA that had been donated by Walt Disney.⁹

The three-manual 19-rank Estey theater organ had been used in the Disney studios, most notably to accompany Micky Mouse cartoons. Noted musician Albert Hay Malotte, studio organist for Disney and composer of the popular and often sung The Lord's Prayer, performed a celebration concert after it was installed.¹⁰

Until the building of HMA, lessons and practice happened in rooms scattered around campus, and rehearsals were held in a noisy assembly room with poor acoustics. The new music facility, with its three studios, ten practice rooms, 758-seat auditorium, and classrooms¹¹ seemed like a dream for teachers and students who, in spite of poor facilities, had developed a successful and well-regarded music program.

During this decade of sweeping changes and growth for the school, Beisel continued his work with the instrumental groups, staying for most of the decade. Havstad left in 1932 to accept a position at Walla Walla College.

Abel had graduated from the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago in 1931 and then had taught briefly at what is now Portland Adventist Academy in Oregon, before coming to SCJC. During his 15 years at the college he aggressively promoted his choirs and the vocal program. Abel adopted Westminster Choir College vocal concepts in singing and, in 1939, announced the a cappella choir as an "affiliated Westminster Choir."¹² He was a key player and a stabilizing force in music as the school made its transition to a four-year college.¹³

Ellsworth Whitney, a pianist who had taught for eight years in nearby academies and done graduate study at Redlands University, was hired in 1936. When he left three years later to pursue studies in medicine, Edna Farnsworth succeeded him.

Farnsworth enjoyed a widespread reputation as a keyboard performer and teacher. She had led the department at Atlantic Union College from 1904 to1937 and then taken a leave to complete a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1938. Most recently, she had been studying pipe organ at the University of Redlands where she subsequently completed a master's degree at age 56, while teaching at LSC. By the time Farnsworth retired in 1962, at age 77, she had been teaching for 55 years.¹⁴

Otto Racker, a violinist, was hired to direct the orchestra and band in 1938. He had taught most recently at Newbold College in England. A disciplinarian and a perfectionist, Racker led both groups to high levels of achievement in his seven years at the college and set the stage for ongoing programs in both ensembles. His flamboyant conducting style drew audiences to his concerts to see him perform as well as hear his groups.¹⁵

The music and art departments were combined in 1942 to create a Department of Fine Arts chaired by Farnsworth. The merger had little effect on music since she, Abel, and Racker were teaching overloads that prevented any meaningful interaction with their colleagues in art.

Although LSC was now offering four-year programs, they were not fully accredited. In 1943, with a change in leadership of the college, achieving accreditation for college programs became paramount and a justification for upgrading the faculty and physical plant.¹⁶

Genteel and thoughtful, Hannum was respected for his quiet strength and high standards. He carefully chose experienced musicians who could also teach, and then created an atmosphere in which they could do their best work.

He had started his career at Washington Missionary College (now Columbia Union College) in the 1920s, having previously studied at the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music near Cleveland, Ohio, his birthplace. While at WMC, Hannum completed a B. Mus. at the Peabody Conservatory of Music and then, in 1934, accepted an invitation to teach at EMC and chair its music program. In his ten years there, he completed an M.Mus. degree at Northwestern University and became an Associate in the American Guild of Organists.¹⁷

The department flourished under Hannum's leadership. He immediately urged Abel and Farnsworth to lighten their loads and let their assistants, Frances Brown, Dorothy Johnson, and Ella Knokey-Frost do more. Sophie Andross, Ellen Short, Elizabeth Saunders, and Geraldine Goddard were added to assist in piano as the decade continued. Ralph Pierce, a noted pianist, was hired as a visiting professor to teach advanced students.

Walters, an accomplished violinist, would spend the rest of his life and career at LSC. Though he was only 32 when he arrived on campus, he had already served for five years as head of the music program at AUC and conductor of its orchestra and band. While there he had earned an M.Mus. at Boston University in 1946.

John T. Hamilton also joined the faculty in 1947, the year Walters was hired. Hannum chose these men because they had graduate degrees in music and had been successful at the college level. He wanted instrumental ensembles that were truly college caliber¹⁸ and wished to continue the choral tradition that had been started by Havstad and continued by Abel.

Hamilton was an ideal choice. Although he had completed a history degree at WMC in 1937, encouraged by Oliver Beltz, an Adventist church musician who was teaching at Northwestern University, he had enrolled there and completed a music degree in 1941. In the next five years he developed an outstanding program at WWC while completing an M.Mus. at NWU during the summers. After a year at EMC, he accepted Hannum's invitation to return to the West Coast.¹⁹

This group's small size, judicious mix of light and serious music, and extensive touring made it a popular and effective public relations ensemble for the college. Students sought to be members and it became an important factor, along with other ensembles, in the success of the department for the next 20 years.²⁰

By the end of the 1940s, Hannum had not only brought to the campus two outstanding ensemble directors, he had presided over other changes as well. In the post-World War II years, enrollment in the school mushroomed with the return of servicemen.

This increase in students, coupled with the success of the newly hired teachers and flourishing music ensembles, created a need for more space. Accordingly, an addition that included two new studios and classrooms, a large rehearsal room, and storage for robes and instruments was built on the back of HMA.²¹

In the fall of 1950, H. Allen Craw was hired to teach piano and theory, the first of several faculty to be added that decade. He helped ease Hannum's load in keyboard and theory and stabilized an area of performance that had been of uneven quality because of constant changes in teachers.

Craw had completed a B.A in music at EMC in 1946, and an M.Mus. at North Texas State University while teaching at Southwestern Junior College from 1946 to 1950. During his three decades at LSC he completed a Ph.D. in musicology at the University of Southern California, taught music history and theory, and also helped chair the department in the 1970s.²²

By 1952, Walters' string program, teaching responsibilities and performing had increased to the point that he could no longer direct the band and teach all the methods classes in the education degree. Robert Warner, a trumpet player with a master's degree from Northwestern University and academy teaching experience, was hired to lead the band and teach the methods classes.

Frances L. Brown, who had taught earlier in the program, returned to assist with voice lessons on a "temporary" basis after having taught at Helderberg College in South Africa for six years. She would teach voice and music education classes at LSC for the next 19 years, retiring in 1972.²³

Perry Beach was the last to be hired in the 1950s, the first music teacher at LSC with a doctorate. He had earned both of his graduate degrees in theory and composition at the Eastman School of Music.

During the next 24 years he became one of the college's most distinguished professors, a composer of numerous works, and a recipient of two faculty awards. He also chaired the department, along with Craw, during the 1970s.²⁴

By the end of the 1950's, music was one of the best known and respected departments on campus. Starting with a recording by the Collegians in the late 1940s, a number of records featuring department ensembles and faculty had been released through Cathedral Records. These, along with numerous tours and high profile roles in music at several General Conference sessions, had created a reputation for LSC as a leader in music in Adventist circles.

Two teachers joined the department in the opening years of the next decade. Moses Chalmers was hired in 1960 to assist in the choral program since Hamilton was increasingly involved in college public relations. When Hamilton left the department two years later to work full time in that area, Joann Robbins joined to assist Chalmers. Both upheld and built on the choral legacy they had inherited, Chalmers until 1970, and Robbins until the mid-1980s.

From the beginning, the school's faculty and leadership, including those in music, were known for their innovation, vision, and willingness to take risks. In 1967, La Sierra merged with Loma Linda University. Coming after several years of growth in its academic programs, and construction and renovation in the physical plant, it seemed the logical next step to some, particularly since LLU was interested in having an undergraduate program. The result was the largest educational entity in Adventism.

Donald Jon Vaughn joined Hannum to assist with organ duties the year of the merger. A 1960 graduate of LSC, he had completed an M.Mus. at the University of Redlands and taught at Columbia Union College.

He shared in Hannum's longtime wish to replace the organ in Hole Memorial Auditorium and, in consultation with Hannum and Lawrence Phelps at Casavant Freres, Ltd., organ builders in Canada, led out in the installation of a three-manual, 62-rank organ in HMA in 1970.²⁵ A year later, he oversaw installation of another Casavant organ in the Loma Linda University Church.

In subsequent years, Vaughn, assisted by many students, totally rebuilt a small Aeolian organ that had been placed in the LSC church in 1950, transforming it into a larger, more versatile instrument built around a new console. By the end of 1990s he had completed a solid-state four-manual, 140 rank pipe organ for the sanctuary. It was named for him at the time of his retirement in 1998.²⁶

In 1971, in a bold move, LLU hosted the first Herbert Blomstedt Conducting Institute on the La Sierra Campus. The program, which was initiated by summer session dean, Vernon Koenig, and the music department, continued until 1984. It quickly became an acclaimed ongoing experience that attracted participants from around the world.

Under the guidance of Blomstedt, internationally noted conductor, and eventually an assistant, Jon Robertson, conductors worked with a live orchestra for ten days. Insightful critiques, coupled with a video record of the experience, provided invaluable input for students seeking to improve their conducting. The workshop ended with a public concert featuring selected students conducting the orchestra.²⁷

A similar experience for singers and choral conductors led by Sir David Willcocks, director of the Royal School of Music in London, started in 1974. Willcocks, after repeated invitations from Hamilton, an acquaintance, had finally agreed to come and do the first workshop. He enjoyed the experience and returned for ten more summers.²⁸

In the fall of 1978, undergraduate enrollment at La Sierra crested at nearly 2,600, the largest enrollment on any Adventist campus. Seven full-time and eight part-time music faculty were teaching in a program that offered majors in music education, performance, or church music.

A number of persons had directed the orchestra following the untimely death of Alfred Walters from cancer in 1972. Bjorn Keyn, who also assisted with the choirs, and Donald Duncan, who worked with the band, briefly led the group.

By 1984, only four full-time music faculty remained. Vaughn and Thurber, who had become chair in 1980, had been joined a year earlier by Rene Ramos, pianist and musicologist, and, as that school-year started, by William Chunestudy, who was hired to assist in the band and choral areas. Chunestudy assumed direction of the band, an organization which had most recently been briefly directed by Joanne Klaasen Andersson and Gregory (Skip) Lorenz.

Beginning in that same year, the LLU/LSC merger began to crumble, weakened by increasingly apparent signs of unhappiness over the relationship on the part of alumni and a group on the La Sierra campus. Some faculty at La Sierra increasingly felt they had little to say about what was happening in the university at large. And there were other issues, including the make-up and power of the board of trustees, wage differences between the campuses, and accreditation issues.

After an interim year as Loma Linda University Riverside, the school assumed its present identity of La Sierra University, a name that reconnected it to its pre-LLU days.²⁹

LSU, now free to develop a new identity, faced enrollment and financial challenges. Before the break with LLU, there had been a sharp decline in students caused, in part, by the turmoil over the LLU/LSC arrangement, but more by a drop nationwide in college and university enrollments during the 1980s.

Jeff Kaatz, a former LLU music student and recent adjunct faculty teacher in cello had been hired in 1988, two years before the separation, to teach and serve as chair. He quickly moved to hire high profile Adventist musicians who could attract serious students in music and increase the visibility of music ensembles.

The first addition was the appointment of Lyndon Johnston Taylor , an acclaimed Adventist violinist, in 1989, to be director of string studies and the orchestra following completion of a doctoral degree at the Juilliard School of Music. Though Taylor finished his degree in 1990, he was not able to come to the university until 1992, because of professional activities that, by then, included playing in the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra.³⁰

The 1990s were productive years for music as Kaatz, the three new teachers, along with Vaughn, Thurber, Ramos, and Chunestudy, worked together to create a program that with its emphasis on music performance attracted talented and highly motivated students. The department also created a number of music scholarship endowments that became ongoing sources of revenue for scholarships. Their yield, paired with $200,000 annually in scholarship monies from the university, also helped attract music students.

Favorito's work in wind and percussion instruments and in conducting the LSU Wind Ensemble was widely praised. In 1991 she hosted the nationally acclaimed Claude T. Gordon International Brass Camp on the LSU campus. He enjoyed that experience and subsequently gave the school his prized collection of 22 rare trumpets.³¹

In 2004, the LSU Wind Ensemble was invited to play at a national band directors convention where it received an instantaneous standing ovation. Additionally, in 1993, an interview Favorito had done with nationally noted musician Arnold Gabriel, published in The Instrumentalist, national journal for band directors, won Best Interview of the Year award from the Educational Press Association of America, the first time a music interview had been so honored.³²

Taylor set a high standard in the string area and attracted several gifted students. In 1997, he successfully auditioned for principal chair of the second violin section in the LAPO, a position he still holds. One of the perks associated with the chair is use of one of the orchestra's three Stradivarius violins.

One of Kaatz's goals was to gain accreditation for the music department with the National Association of Schools of Music, a distinction claimed by only half of the music programs in America and by six Adventist colleges and universities. In preparation for this, he reviewed and revised the curriculum and upgraded the music library. The latter was accomplished largely through funding provided by E. Jane Brown, a pioneering Adventist physician, who wanted to honor her sister, Frances L. Brown, music teacher at the college for many years.

As the end of the decade approached, Kaatz's spirited leadership of the department for two four-year terms, and effectiveness when given other campus assignments, had been noticed by administration. Beginning in 1996, at the start of a third term as chair, he also became director of University Studies and Assistant Vice-President for Academic Administration.

When Vaughn retired in 1998, after serving for 33 years, the longest full-time tenure in music to that time, he left an enduring legacy in organs. In addition to his work in the initial installation of the organs in HMA in 1970 and the LLU Church in 1971, he had completely redone the LSU church organ, a project that extended over many years. Three years before he retired, he supervised the renovation of the HMA organ and the upgrading of its console, including the addition of MIDI technology.³³

The vocal/choral area has been in transition since the late 1990's. J. Craig Johnson was hired to teach voice in 1999. A DMA graduate of USC, he proved to be an exceptional teacher and, before his departure at the end of this past school year, had developed a large studio and increased the number of voice majors. Raejin Lee, an M.Mus. graduate from Indiana University and a doctoral candidate at Rutgers University, is his successor.

Barbara Favorito succeeded Kaatz as chair in 1999. She upheld a high standard in her four years in that position. During her and Kaatz's leadership, the number of majors had stabilized at about 35 to 40 during the mid-1990's and then dramatically increased to over 80 as the present decade started.

Kimo Smith became chair in 2003. An active performer, he is organist at the LLU church and minister of music at the First Presbyterian Church in Hollywood. He completed an undergraduate and a master's degree at USC, honored in each instance with the organ department's Outstanding Achievement Award. He completed a D.M.A. at UCLA in 1998.

Even in its early years, when the college's size and remote location limited musical options, it was able to provide an exceptional program. Today, by comparison, the music department has unlimited resources with specialists in performance, excellent classes and ensembles, and easy access to world-class music events. Now, more than ever, LSU is in a position to continue the school's tradition in musical excellence.