It never fails — we cannot go anywhere without meeting up with people we didn’t know were going to be there! Going to the Bach Collegium Japan’s performance of the Mass in B Minor was no exception.

In an earlier post, I already wrote about meeting Bill Beermann (organist) and Craig Mueller (Lutheran pastor) at Lorraine Brugh’s pre-concert party, and that we first met them at the Bachfest in Leipzig in 2007.

At intermission, a couple approached us and we were overjoyed to see Cheryl and Byron Will from Portland, OR! Cheryl was the girl Carl stood next to in the Junior Choir from Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Port Angeles, WA and it was her parents — Pastor Carl Fischer who was also an organist and Laurie Fischer, a trained singer who conducted the junior choir — who made such an impression upon Carl as a young boy. “It was because of the Fischers that I am in church music today!” Carl explained to Allen. Long ago, we saw Cheryl at an AGO convention and at that point, it had been a stretch of about 30 years since she and Carl had seen each other from Port Angeles, WA days.

Then, at the reception, I started talking to a couple whom I thought looked familiar, and discovered it was Tom and Sylvia Luekens, she a church organist and member of ALCM. As I was talking to them, Allen Bauchle said, “I know you!” It turns out they knew Allen from Rochester, NY and the Luekens knew Allen’s parents, Allen and Nancy Bauchle from when Allen was in high school! The Luekens are Valporaiso grads, too, and have recently moved to the Midwest after having lived in California.

There may have been other people in the audience that we knew, but there were too many people to see everybody!