Bloomington Area Choir for Home Schoolers (BACHS) was established in September 1998, after several homeschooling families agreed that a choir would meet a specific need for local home school children. The group had an initial enrollment of 27, growing to 88 students four years later. The choir serves all interested home-educated students from ages 8 to 18.
The choir was originally called B-N Home School Choir and was organized under the direction of Don Lusk, a former high school music teacher, and his wife, Angela, who passed away in 2017. Both felt the call to lead this effort through the homeschooling community as a ministry. Mrs. Wendy Seiler was our first accompanist. In September 2000, Mrs. Patricia Cole became an accompanist and served the choir for 15 years.
In 2006, the choir was divided into two groups to better accommodate growth. Enrollment peaked at 135 students. The Treble Choir was organized to serve students ages 8-12 and was directed by Ms. Jessica Doddek until 2010. Students who were well versed in piano accompanied the Treble Choir and include Jane Cole Harrison, Taylor Alsdorf, Summer Lusk, and Megan Schwenk. Ms. Anna Bates became director of the Treble Choir in 2010 and served two years. In 2013, Ellen Losey, a former graduate of BACHS was appointed Director of the Treble Choir and served until 2017 when Maura McNamara also a former member of BACHS took the lead role as director. In 2020, Mrs. Joyce Hagberg became director, and supported Treble and Concert choirs after the Covid-19 crisis. An Honor’s Choir served older (high school) students and was directed by Don Lusk from 1998 – 2012.
Again in 2012, there was a need to further divide the group to accommodate growing voices. The Cantate Choir was established to assist with developing younger voices in the middle school vocal range. Mrs. Bethany Ross served as conductor until January 2016 and was followed by Mrs. Angela Bargmann, who conducted the choir until 2019. Mr. Sam Fleming started the Cantate conductor position in 2019. Accompanists that have served include Anna Bates, Jennifer Booker-Smith, John Nagle and Elizabeth Giger.
The Honor’s choir eventually became the Concert Choir and is the premier group of BACHS. The Concert Choir performs locally at civic and community functions, local hospitals, retirement residences, and luncheons. Admission to the Concert Choir is by audition and is skills-based. There are no age limits as each student is judged on his/her ability to meet all requirements of the audition process (sight-reading, vocal ability, aural skills, and deportment). Accompanists for the Honor’s / Concert Choir include Mrs. Patricia Cole; Mrs. Shishi Cai and Ms. Janet Frevert.
BACHS received non-profit status in 2015. A Board of Directors oversees the governance of the organization, with an Executive Director being responsible for the day-to-day operations. BACHS has had several students participate in the IMEA Honors All-State Choir, and the Millikin University Annual Vocal Festival.
Each choir within BACHS participates in our Christmas and Annual Spring Concerts each year.
In 2020, as the world tried to figure out how to live and interact due to the worldwide pandemic, BACHS went to a virtual setting. The format allowed us to sustain the function of the choir but truly impacted our ability to connect. We went from 120 active members to 25 singers in 2020. The choir is in a rebuilding stage, with a current enrollment of 58 students in both Treble & Concert Choirs. BACHS has welcomed two new directors. Mrs. Joyce Hagberg, who expanded her directing duties of the elementary & middle school-aged choir in 2021. This included a combined group of elementary and high school students, where Joyce proposed to the board that she be allowed to direct both groups. What a joy it was to see both choirs starting to reform. We had an outstanding 2021-22 school year!
In September 2022, Mr. Jeff Miller joined as the principal director for our Concert Choir for the 2022-23 school year. Jeff’s experience has brought a wide array of musical development for this group, while providing and maintaining our goal of providing a wonderful experience for our advanced choral students.
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