Leadership

My idea of a perfect day is… sunshine, a light breeze, and being in the water!

My biggest challenge is… overthinking and a little procrastination

My biggest pet peeve is… folks missing the world around them, especially while on an electronic device.

My life verse is… be open to any possibility!

My favorite children’s book is… Dr. Seuss “Cat in the Hat”

My last meal would be… surf and turf with lobster and a beautiful fillet mignon.

My nickname is… Jaybird

My worst habit is… getting impatient with myself.

I am happiest when… I am with Steve and our fur babies. Also, when playing the organ!

My favorite Bible character is… Zaccheus

Transforming experience(s)… playing a concert on the 1738 Muller Organ at St. Bavo, Haarlem, the Netherlands.

I was born… in Minot, North Dakota, on a very cold November day.

The best advice I could give a 20-year-old is… find your passion and go for it!

My guilty pleasure is… a good martini and Popeyes fried chicken

My idea of a perfect day is… hiking, biking, or swimming, then relaxing outdoors.

My favorite sports team is… not my thing. I enjoy watching the Olympics.

The one thing I want to make sure people know about LCH is… the people are gracious and welcoming!

I came to LCH because… I had been there during the 1997 American Guild of Organists Convention, and it remained with me.

Barry Wenger is excited to be part of the historic music ministry at the Lutheran Church of Honolulu and to direct the excellent LCH Choir. He joined the staff of LCH in November 2022 after being a professional church musician for over 35 years.

Barry found his love for the pipe organ and its music at the age of 20. It wasn’t until the organist at his home church, Faith United Methodist in Minot, asked him to begin organ lessons that he even thought of playing organ. He signed up for organ lessons and was immediately hooked on the majestic dynamic range of the organ. He has a love of church liturgy, sacred choral music, bell music, and encouraging congregational singing.

Dr. Wenger studied with many wonderful teachers. He studied organ with Dr. Mark Dimond, Minot State University and the University of North Dakota, who had studied with Maurice Duruflé in Paris and Virgil Fox in New York City and Dr. John Obetz, the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) Conservatory of Music, who studied with Vernon DeTar at Union Seminary in New York and with Marie-Claire Alain in Paris. Barry feels very fortunate to have had these experiences with two wonderful organ professors. He also studied harpsichord and piano with Dr. Jane Solose at the University of North Dakota during his master of music program. He studied choral conducting with Dr. Eph Ehly at the UMKC Conservatory.

Dr. Wenger has served several churches, playing the organ and directing choirs in Minot and Grand Forks, North Dakota; Kansas City, Missouri; and Chicago, Illinois. Most recently, Dr. Wenger was the organist and director of bell choirs at First Presbyterian Church of Lake Forest, Illinois. There he conducted two adult bell choirs and accompanied the Sanctuary Choir and two children’s choirs. In 2019, Dr. Wenger toured with his Lakeminster Ringers bell choir to the Netherlands. There they performed four concerts of bell music combined with a 45-minute organ recital. Dr. Wenger played a Cavaille-Coll Organ, and several famous Müller Organs at these concerts, including the 1739 Müller Organ at the famed St. Bavo Church in Haarlem. This was a highlight of his career as many organists, such as Handel, Mozart, and Mendelssohn, have played this organ!

Dr. Wenger’s career has included teaching piano, harpsichord, and organ privately for 28 years and serving as a professor at Lake Forest College, teaching organ, and at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Waukesha Campus. There he conducted the Concert Choir and taught class piano.

Katherine Nagel

Office Administrator
lch@lchwelcome.org
808-941-2566