Chorale set for summer tour of Pacific Northwest

Every year The Master’s University Chorale, an ensemble of the Paul T. Plew School of Music, travels on a tour to promote the Chorale and the university.

This year, the Chorale, directed by Dr. Marius Bahnean, will tour the west coast of the United States. Their furthest tour stops will be in Washington and the tour will last about a week. This tour will be the second directed by Dr. Bahnean since he became the associate professor of music and director of choral activities in 2023.

Bahnean chose to have the Chorale tour the west coast for a few reasons.

“Because I’m new here, I knew I had to introduce myself to the churches and affiliations of [The Master’s University/The Master’s Seminary] people on the west coast,” he said. “And, beyond that, we recruit mostly from the west coast. That’s the truth.”

He wanted to make sure that the Chorale was “still on the radar and connected with the churches and academies that we recruit from.” 

In choosing what locations where the Chorale would sing, Bahnean referred to a database.

“We have a database that keeps track of all our alumni and TMU/TMS graduate pastors who pastor [the churches]. We go to that database and that’s how we decide. It’s the same with the academies too. Whatever connections we have, we work those connections,” Bahnean said.

The tour will start in Washington and drive back down to The Master’s University. The singers will stop in various locations in all three states, Washington, Oregon and northern and central California. Stops in Washington and Oregon will include Mt. Vernon, Marysville, Gig Harbor, Portland, Salem, Albany and Central Point. 

The tour will conclude with visits to Weaverville, Meadow Vista and Santa Clarita Valley in California. Among the church visits, they will be visiting a number of academies this summer, more so than the previous year.

“We have more school visits than we did in Texas. We have one almost every day. [The schools] are Christian academies,” Bahnean said.

Bahnean looks forward to seeing this tour as “building community within Chorale, making really fine music, and encouraging the churches and academies.”