The first flyer announcing the opening of Healdsburg Academy, forerunner of today’s Pacific Union College, listed instrumental music as an option, for a fee that included use of an instrument. It was not until the end of the first year, however, that the first lessons in piano and organ were given, when Edith Donaldson was hired to teach both music and English.

Instruction in vocal music was also listed in that first announcement, to be provided without charge. Study in voice was required for all students in the early years, accomplished in sessions where students were taught how to breathe, place the voice, and sing and speak with proper diction.¹

Shortly after its opening, the school was renamed Healdsburg College, partly in deference to the community’s wish to be the home of one of the twelve colleges and universities in the state. In reality, at first most of the students and offerings were at the elementary and secondary level.²

Music teachers in the Healdsburg years were mostly persons proficient in keyboard or voice. Though the service of most was often brief, voice and theory teacher Henry Courter, keyboard instructor George B. Miller, voice teacher John Beardslee, and orchestra director William Wallace had significant terms of service.

Healdsburg students had quickly gained a reputation for their singing. Courter, a mathematician and singer, was troubled, however, by their ignorance of music theory. Brilliant and demanding, yet cheerfully persistent as a teacher, he invented a mathematically based teaching device called the Abacus Harmonicus to teach sight-reading and the singing of intervals. Using this aid and his innate ability to give clarity to complex concepts, Courter went over each lesson with varied explanations until it was clear to every student.³

Miller, an organist, came to Healdsburg as a student, following study at Battle Creek College. He impressed the faculty with his talent and enthusiasm and, in 1899, was placed in charge of music. Miller and the president were intent on creating a program that would attract more male students. Consequently, when the voice teacher, a woman, left in 1902, they chose John Beardslee to replace her.⁴ He would teach voice and also lead the department until 1906.

William Wallace, a violinist, was hired the same year as Beardslee to start an orchestra. Wallace succeeded and the orchestra, a group of twenty, with thirteen string players, became the first instrumental ensemble at the school. Wallace led the group until the college closed in 1908.⁵

The orchestra, small groups of select singers known as choral clubs, and detailed programs of study in voice and keyboard created a flourishing music department with four teachers. Even so, because of the college’s increasing financial problems, music was placed on a self-supporting basis in 1905, three years before the school closed.⁶

The college reopened in 1909 in an isolated location at the top of Howell Mountain in Angwin. Even though the enthusiasm for music continued at the new school, the early years at the new location were austere, with few college students and little money to support a music program. Even so, Katherine Sierkie, a singer who had studied at the Sorbonne University of Paris, was asked by the General Conference to teach voice, a position she held until 1912, when she left to teach at Union College. ⁷

During the next three years Miller taught organ and music theory, established three- and five-year courses in voice and keyboard, and led the orchestra until a qualified director could be found.⁸

The year he arrived, the first pipe organ, a Murray M. Harris, was installed in the chapel of a newly constructed administration building. Miller, who had some experience in organ building and had in the last year been working in Los Angeles, likely facilitated its purchase and installation.⁹

A small seven-stop organ originally built for a church in Van Nuys, it was at first installed at the rear of the room. Five years later when the chapel was renovated and enlarged, it was moved to the front where it became an impressive focal point.¹⁰

The search for someone who could direct the orchestra and establish a music department led them to consider Noah Paulin, who was the same age as Miller and running a music studio in Santa Barbara. A delegation from the college traveled to his studio to observe his work. Impressed with him, the way he related to his students, and the fact that he had organized and was conducting an orchestra, they invited him to come to PUC and develop a music department. He accepted the offer, even though it meant a reduction in income.

Over the next 30 years Paulin would emerge as the central figure in music at PUC. Though at first he was assigned janitorial duties on campus and, subsequently, gardening duties, an expectation for all teachers in those early years, within a decade he was able to devote his time fully to music. He established an active and respected program, giving unstintingly of his time in teaching classes and lessons on a variety of instruments, conducting the orchestra and band, and performing frequently.¹¹

An often stated view in Paulin’s early years, that he was the department, was fed in part by the fact that changes in the music faculty were occurring on the average of about one a year. In spite of the turnover, music prospered and by 1918 the department was on equal footing with other areas of instruction.¹²

Gilmour McDonald, teacher in piano after Taylor left, had taught piano while studying at PUC. Listed as a full-time teacher beginning in 1929, he and his wife, Marjorie, who began teaching piano the following year, taught until 1939.¹³

Clarence Dortch was the first voice teacher and choir director to teach for a length of time. When he completed the secondary part of the PUC program in 1915, he was hired to teach piano part-time while he continued music study at the college. In 1917, he left to teach at Lodi Academy. A year later he served in World War I and then taught at Gem State Academy in Idaho, returning to PUC in 1920 to teach voice and direct the choir. He led both men’s and women’s glee clubs, popular college groups in that era, as an adjunct to the choir, and started the first oratorio chorus.

Despite the fact that Greer did not have a degree, he was awarded a professorship because of his achievements with the choir. Many were disappointed when he left to accept a position at Washington Missionary College (now Columbia Union College) in 1937. The McDonalds followed him two years later.¹⁴

As the 1930’s had started, PUC’s enrollment was nearing 400. Growth in music activity was creating problems since music lessons and instruction were still being given in faculty homes and the administration building, and student practice rooms were scattered across campus and on the ground floor of West Hall, an old dormitory. The situation was disruptive for the department and others on campus who were surrounded by the ever-present sounds of developing musicians.

The only exceptions were larger ensembles that rehearsed in the administration building, which had been named Irwin Hall, and lessons and practice on the chapel organ. Just three years earlier, the instrument had been expanded to three manuals and 27 stops, with decidedly mixed results, and an echo organ had been installed in the back balcony.¹⁵

Although there had been ad hoc bands for several years, the beginnings of an ongoing concert band came about through the efforts of two students who in the spring of 1937 organized a uniformed group. Within two years, the band under Paulin’s leadership grew from 26 to 45 and became very popular on campus. In those years, band concerts always started with Band Theme Song, a work composed by Paulin, who led the group until 1945, a year beyond his retirement. PUC alumni later adopted the theme song as their hymn.

The school’s enrollment remained fairly constant through the opening years of the 1940’s. However, a raging global conflict and the departure of male students leaving to fight in it led to the lowest enrollment since 1938 in the fall of 1944. Annual performances of the Messiah, which had been a Christmas tradition since 1927, continued, however, and ensembles played frequently, giving a boost to morale during that difficult time.

Sterling Gernet, an accomplished pianist, was appointed chair in the fall of 1946. The first person with a doctorate in music to teach at the college, he immediately began working with his six colleagues, all of whom had at least one degree, to revise and create a more rigorous program.¹⁶

Their work and that of others on campus helped lead to certification of the music education and other PUC education programs in 1951.¹⁷ It also laid the foundation for what would become a substantial music program, one suitable for a school whose enrollment in 1950-51, the final year of Gernet’s leadership, had doubled to over a thousand since the end of the war.

J. Wesley Rhodes had assumed direction of the choral program in 1944, at the beginning of Paulin’s final year. His leadership of the choirs was a stabilizing factor as the transition from the Paulin era occurred, new music teachers were hired, and the department redefined itself. The excellence of his choral work was continued, following his retirement in 1951, with the appointment of Gerald Ferguson, who taught for five years.

George Greer returned to direct the choirs when Ferguson left. Since his departure 19 years earlier, he had taught at three other Adventist colleges, and was acclaimed for his work at Washington Missionary College and his legendary choir tours during nine years at Avondale College in Australia. He retired four years later, in 1960, as an emeritus professor, honored for his 15 years of choral leadership at PUC.¹⁸

John J. Hafner had assumed direction of the band and orchestra in 1947, at the beginning of Gernet’s second year as chair. A violinist and conductor with a flair for showmanship, he provided memorable leadership for both groups until 1955, when he left to teach at Walla Walla College.

Hafner also served as chair of the department in his last four years. He held the first music festival hosted by PUC for secondary schools the year he left. A one-day event, it featured seven academy bands that performed separately throughout the day and as a massed group that evening.¹⁹

C. Warren Becker, an organist, had also been hired in those formative years after World War II. He brought stability to that area of music during his fourteen years of teaching and playing for church services. It was his first teaching position and the beginning of a distinguished career. While at PUC, he completed a master’s degree at the Eastman School of Music, and, in his last three years, served as chair, after the McDonalds left.²⁰

George Wargo assumed leadership of the department and the string program in 1959, when Becker left to teach at Emmanuel Missionary College (now Andrews University). He and his wife, Audrey, a pianist, would teach until his retirement fourteen years later. An accomplished viola performer and former member of the National Symphony, he had taught at Peabody Conservatory of Music and the University of Virginia and chaired the music department at Washington Missionary College for thirteen years.²¹

From its first use, Paulin Hall had proven to be inadequate. By the 1960’s, growth at the college and in music had led to the department’s once again being scattered across campus. Wargo, from his arrival, lobbied for a larger, more adequate facility, a need that had been recognized by the college before his arrival. The building was completed and occupied by the department in 1967.

The graduate program in music started in 1964 as a response to the need for large numbers of West Coast Adventist music teachers to earn master’s degrees for certification. It was primarily an education degree with an emphasis in music.

Harold Lickey was the first of several choral directors to be hired during Wargo’s tenure. A gifted singer and talented and demanding conductor who had previously taught at two colleges, Lickey formed a select choir known as Schola Cantorum and challenged its members with both contemporary and traditional choral works.

Carlyle Manous was also hired during Wargo’s chairmanship to lead the band at the academy, teach brass and assist with the college band, which had been directed for the past four years by Bertil van Boer. A versatile brass performer, Manous started in 1963, following completion of a master’s degree at the University of Michigan. He became college band director in his second year and, in the next decade completed a doctorate at the University of Michigan.

Morris and Elaine Taylor, gifted pianists and teachers, joined the faculty in 1965, midway through Wargo’s tenure as chair. For the next six years their piano artistry and their four children’s string performances enlivened the campus and region. The children’s precocious playing as a string quartet stunned audiences and music critics alike.

Lowell Smith was appointed organist in 1960. At the end of his fourth year he took a sabbatical in Europe to study carillon playing, sponsored by a Fulbright Fellowship. Del Case, an organist who had taught for four years at Southern Missionary College (now Southern Adventist University), was hired to teach during Smith’s absence and then work with him after his return. The year Smith returned, Case took a year’s study leave. Although he had permission to extend it for a second year, he returned after one year when Smith accepted a position elsewhere.

All of these faculty members were hired during Wargo’s tenure as chair. Although he had successfully championed the need for the new facility and carefully nurtured the graduate program, he had run the department with a hands-off approach. Nevertheless, the teachers were highly motivated and the overall result was an extremely productive era for music.

Melvin Hill became chair in 1969. He had earlier directed the band for three years, from 1957 to 1960. In 1959, he had completed a DMA and the following year went to Union College to chair its music program.

Kempster was appointed chair for the remainder of that year and then chosen to serve a four- year term, beginning in 1974. He assumed leadership of Pro Musica when Tetz left that summer.

By the late 1970’s, the department could look back on nearly two decades of unusual accomplishment. Its large and talented faculty had earned an enviable reputation for musical excellence. During that time college enrollment had soared to over 2,000, and large numbers of music graduates had left to pursue successful careers as teachers and performers.

Manous became chair in 1978, at the end of Kempster’s term. The stress of this added responsibility, combined with leading the band and orchestra and the teaching of classes, led him to resign two years later. During his leadership, the master’s degree was discontinued because of low enrollment and a lack of interest. In its nearly twenty years of existence, only 42 graduate degrees had been awarded.

When Manous left in 1980, Steve Hall was hired as interim band conductor for two years while Kenneth Narducci, talented brass performer and designated successor as band director, pursued graduate study at the University of Oregon. When Narducci assumed leadership of the band in 1982, he named it the Symphonic Wind Ensemble. He has directed the group for 23 years, a record at PUC, and has distinguished himself as a theory teacher.

Norman Bernal became conductor of the orchestra when Wargo retired in 1973, a position he held for the next five years. Wargo, Manous, John Fisher and Wargo, again, briefly led the group before LeRoy Peterson was hired in 1983.

Gennevieve Brown-Kibble was appointed director of choral activities in 1995. In that position she teaches voice, directs Pro Musica, a men’s chorus, Kantorei, and a woman’s chorus, Bel Canto. She also teaches music education, conducting and music history.

Del Case completed a doctorate in 1972. He and his wife, Lois, a pianist, both appointed during the Wargo years, will have been at PUC for over forty years when they retire this spring, longer than any other music teacher since the beginning of the school. He brought about the installation of the Casavant pipe organ in the Paulin recital hall, a smaller fifteen-stop tracker instrument in the organ studio, and a practice organ.

During the 1980’s and 1990’s, further reductions were made in the music faculty, necessitated by a continued decline in school enrollment and escalating operating expenses in the overall college program. At the beginning of a new century, the program is being taught by six full-time and a number of adjunct faculty, a nationwide trend in college and university music staffing.

Lynn Wheeler has served as department chair since 1986. He has been an effective leader for 19 years, a record second only to that of Paulin, during what has been a challenging time in staff reductions and realignments.