There once was a community chorus in McMinnville. It seems that the Christmas concert, directed by Lawrence Marsh at Linfield College in 2008, was the last concert that chorus performed, as Prof. Marsh retired and there was not another director to pick up the baton.

 

Marcia Stratman, from Anchorage, Alaska arrived at First Presbyterian Church, and the McMinnville choral scene changed. In her second year at the church, Marcia and the long-time choir director of McMinnville High School, planned a choral performance featuring the Christmas portion of Handel's Messiah. The performance was successful and well-received. With five rehearsals, this pick-up group of non-auditioned singers gave two performances of Handel’s Messiah Christmas section to two full-house audiences. The following year, Marcia organized a reprise of the Messiah concert with John Buehler as the director.

 

John had a 15-year tenure teaching choral music in Kansas public schools, followed by 25 years as the Director of Choral Activities and Chair of the Music Department at Baker University. Most recently, he completed seven years as the director of the Cannon Beach Chorus in Oregon.

 

Jeff White, a bass from both choirs, brought the idea of a community choir to John: "With these performances, we have the three things we need to form a permanent community chorus in McMinnville: interested singers, interested community support, and, with you, a director to lead." John agreed, and with that the North Valley Community Chorus was born.