Swan Song: Beloved choral director takes final bow

Last Saturday, Christian Bumgarner stepped in front of the Mission Valley Choral Society for the final concert he’ll lead under the arched ceiling and luminous paintings of the historic Mission in St. Ignatius. It also marked his second-to-last concert at the helm of the choral group, which sang for nearly 90 minutes – their voices amplified in the hallowed space.

“I’ve been trying not to think about it too much,” he said of this poignant end to his long career in the Mission Valley. “I got a little weepy during rehearsal.”

Bumgarner and his wife, Viktra, are moving to Idaho (which he’s dubbed Spudlandia) at the end of April to live close to their 14 grandchildren. They leave a community where they’ve lived for 34 years and raised four daughters.

“We are not going to lose our ties to this community,” Viktra said Saturday. “There’s just no way.”

“We have so many wonderful relationships – you don’t lose those overnight,” her husband added. “Former students, colleagues, people who have been in the choir – I just feel so blessed, so fortunate. It makes it harder to say goodbye.”

Choir members and his long-time accompanist and dear friend Karla Gallatin seemed to share the complex mix of emotions – delight in the music, its meaning and their surroundings, and appreciation for their long, inspiring relationship with their director.

And what better place to begin saying goodbye than the historic church?

Many of the works Bumgarner selected for the group’s two Palm Sunday concerts (the second was held Sunday in Polson) “are meant to be sung in a space like this,” he said.

He added that he’s sung in cathedrals across Europe, and the Mission “is right up there with them.”

“It’s a great place to sing – the choirs enjoy it, but I know the audiences love it too.”

Most of the audience kept their coats on for the duration however, since the heater in the 130-year-old church had died. Bumgarner suggested that those who love the Mission might want to donate to the furnace-repair fund.

Bumgarner grew up in Belt, a tiny town south of Great Falls, and arrived in the Mission Valley 34 years ago to teach choral music at Polson High School, after teaching in Shelby and earning his master’s degree in Kansas City, Mo.

“We were looking for a little larger high school than Shelby, so this was a step up,” he said. Plus, his wife had gone to high school in Kalispell and “wanted to come back to the mountains.”

He taught at Polson High and Middle School for 23 years, retiring in 2012, and served as an administrator and teacher at Mission Valley Christian Academy for six years.

He first lent his voice to the choral society in 1989. “I just enjoyed singing,” he said.

But when members realized he was the high school choral director “they roped me in” to directing the choir, which has been in existence since the mid 1960s.

He’s held that role off and on since the 1990s, most recently taking the helm after former director Mason Niblack stepped down. Over the years he’s guided the group with precision and humor.

“I don’t apologize for challenging my choirs,” he said. “I think that if they’re challenged they rise to the occasion.

“It’s a fine balance – I tell them, ‘I promise I’ll never ask you to sing something you can’t be successful at,’” he added. “They did very well today.”

With just eight weeks of rehearsal, the group of around 30 singers delivered a program of complex music, ranging from “Ave Maria,” to an Irish blessing, “You Do Not Walk Alone,” to a medley from “Les Miserables” and ending with a rousing gospel tune, “Praise His Holy Name,” that had the choir clapping and dancing.

He and Viktra are preparing to move to Blanchard, Idaho, in early May, where the couple looks forward to being fully engaged grandparents, able to attend concerts, plays and sporting events, “all that stuff – we want to be there for that.”

“We’re going to break the fun barrier,” Viktra predicts.

The New Life Christian Church will host a going-away party for the couple at noon April 30. The public is welcome.

Bumgarner suspects he’ll find ways to share his musical gifts in his new home, perhaps by joining a choir (or even starting one), helping out at his daughter’s church, and volunteering to mentor young singers.

“I value that part of my life, so I want to continue that,” he said.

Bumgarner has spent time during the past six months helping the Choral Society lay the groundwork to hire his replacement. The nonprofit group has established bylaws, appointed a president, secretary, treasurer and music librarian, and is now equipped to offer a stipend to a part-time director.

“It was here before I got here and I want it to go on after I leave,” he says. “It’s not about me – it’s about the music, it’s about the people involved. This group of people, they love to sing, they work hard. It’s joy to work with them.”