It’s the week before Holy Week, and Allen Bauchle and I always look at each other, and ask the question, “Well, what are we going to play this year?”  He and I have performed together on trumpet and organ every Easter Sunday for the last twenty years.

It was over 20 years ago that Carl got the bug in his ear (from David Dahl, now retired professor of organ, Pacific Lutheran University) that he should take a sabbatical. David came to Hawaii for his sabbatical and told Carl about all the benefits and learning experiences of going away, and looking at your situation from a new perspective. Carl thought about all the people in town who had the knowledge of the Lutheran liturgy, choral repertoire and whom he could easily work with, and in his deliberations, chose Allen Bauchle, who came on board in 1991.

Allen and Carl plan ALL the music together, including all the choral music and hymns. They also plan every rehearsal to the minute, and know the choir so well, they are almost always “right on the money” in calculating how long it will take the choir to learn the literature. In addition to co-directing the choir, Allen is a whiz at Finale music publishing software, so he is the one who “orchestrates” all the instrumental parts for the hymns for festival services.

Allen is “Mr. Music” (teaching band, orchestra and choir) at three Lutheran schools on Oahu — Our Redeemer Lutheran near the University of Hawaii, Trinity Lutheran in Wahiawa, and St. Mark Lutheran in Kaneohe. As such, he puts a lot of miles on his car, driving between the three schools every week!

So not only does Allen teach band, orchestra and choir, he is our resident trumpet player. He is active in the Music Educators National Conference (MENC) and the Hawaii Music Educators Association (HMEA). He has also played trumpet with the Honolulu Symphony. It’s absolutely fantastic that we can have trumpet music at a moment’s notice!

Click here to hear Allen Bauchle play the trumpet on the antiphon of Psalm 118 by Peter Hallock. By the way, we decided to play trumpet concertos by Giuseppi Torelli this year.