Dr. Wendell D. Buckley

Wendell Dean BuckleyWendell was born November 23, 1921, in Crawford County, Pennsylvania, to Jay and Rose Buckley. As a high school student, he began his music career as the local organist and choir director in his home community of Bath, Ohio. During World War II, he served in the United States Army, Air Depot section, from October 1942 to February 1946, when he was discharged from service at Hickam Field, Honolulu, Hawaii. After attending Oberlin College and Conservatory of Music, he earned his Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Music degrees in 1950, and his Master of Music degree in 1951. He received his Ph.D. Degree in Music Literature and Performance from the University of Iowa in l965.Wendell's first faculty appointment was as an instructor of music at Southern State Teachers College, Springfield, South Dakota, where he taught all the music courses. Then after two years at Buena Vista College, he began, in l954, his career of more than four decades at Concordia College. He taught voice to hundreds of students and also courses in vocal literature, diction, music theory, and music history.In addition to teaching voice, he was an oratorio soloist in the Midwest where he performed in Handel's Messiah, Bach's St. Matthew Passion and B-Minor Mass, Mozart's Requiem, Dubois' Seven Last Words, Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde, and numerous Bach cantatas. He also championed the performance of contemporary music: Janacek, Krenek, Webern, Britten, Ravel, and Kodaly. In addition to many faculty recitals, he was a soloist several times with the Fargo-Moorhead Symphony. For many years he sang annually on the Schubert Club St. Paul Daytime Concert Series, "Live from Landmark," and on the KTCA Artist Series. He spent many summers at the Aspen School of Music and Festival, where he was a tenor soloist and member of the Aspen Chamber Choir in a Bach cantata series. His doctoral dissertation, a history and annotated bibliography of The Solo Song Cycle, remains one of the standard reference guides on the subject. He also served as an adjudicator of vocal solos and ensembles at regional and state music festivals. He contributed to the local community as a church soloist and as the pianist for the Moorhead Rotary for over fifty years. He was a Paul Harris Fellow of the Rotary. In his own mind, he was primarily a teacher of voice who looked back with satisfaction on the many students who gained an understanding and appreciation of music through his efforts and on those who continued in the professional fields of music education and performance.Wendell was a loving husband, devoted father and caring grandfather. He is survived by his loving wife of 54 years, Joan; his son David and daughter-in-law Beth, of San Diego, CA; and his daughter Julie and son-in-law Eric Fung, of Los Altos, CA. His grandchildren are Aaron and Christine Buckley and Jeffrey and Justin Fung.