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In memoriam: Donald Busarow (1934-2011)
Donald Busarow died early in the morning of October 24, 2011, surrounded by his family, while in Houston awaiting a bone marrow transplant. He had been fighting a battle with leukemia for sometime. Survivors include his wife Margaret and six children: Kevin Busarow, Kelly O’Neill, Kendall Busarow, Kerry Cogen, Kate Busarow, and Kristin Andrews. A memorial service will be held on Sunday, November 13 at 3:00 p.m. in the Weaver Chapel on the Wittenberg University campus in Springfield, Ohio where Busarow had served for 35 years as music professor and director of the Wittenberg University Choir. A choir will be assembled especially for the service under the direction of his former student, Robert Hobby, director of music at Trinity English Lutheran Church in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Donald Busarow was born April 10, 1934 in Racine, Wisconsin. He came to Springfield in 1975 to teach church music, organ and theory at Wittenberg. He had previously taught at Concordia College in Milwaukee. Busarow received his bachelor’s degree from Concordia Teachers College (now Concordia University Chicago), River Forest, Illinois. His M.M. in organ performance was awarded by the Cleveland Institute of Music, and he earned his Ph.D. from Michigan State University.
In 1982 Busarow was appointed director of the Wittenberg University Choir, a position he held until the end of the 2009-2010 school year, becoming on the fourth director of the choir in its history. He took his final bow as director of the choir on March 19, 2010 during the choir’s annual “Home” concert following its spring tour.
His tenure at Wittenberg was marked by hundreds of acclaimed concerts throughout the United States and Europe. In 2007 he performed at the organ and led the choir in a concert at Cleveland’s Severance Hall. He was a noted composer of church music and a concert organist. He is known primarily as a composer of Lutheran concertatos, having published twenty-five works of this large multi-movement form of hymn arrangements. In a recent publication by Thrivent for Lutherans, Celebrating the Musical Heritage of the Lutheran Church, six CDs include the music of the l7th through the 20th centuries, and Dr. Busarow is included as one of ten composers representing the 20th century.
His composition awards include prizes for two compositions based on texts by the English Jacobean poet John Donne: first prize from the International Horn Society for Death, Be Not Proud (for soprano, horn, and piano) and first prize at the Chautauqua Choral Competition for Hymne to God The Father (an unaccompanied piece for five-part choir).
Dr. Busarow maintained extensive involvement in organ consultation and design. He was engaged by churches throughout the country as consultant and has designed organs in the Detroit area, in Chicago, and in Columbus, Ohio (notably the organ at Trinity Lutheran Seminary). ALCM released a CD by Dr. Busarow, The Book, The Meal, The Song, a hymn festival recorded live at the Episcopal Cathedral in Denver, Colorado, in July 1995. He was also in demand as lecturer, clinician, and performer for church music workshops. His hymn festivals gave him countless opportunities to display his improvisational skills at the organ. He was particularly well known for his “Reflections,” improvised postludes which artfully wove together themes from throughout a given service.
View the tribute on the Wittenberg University web site.
