A legacy of influence and impact

TRAINER OF PSALMISTS

Anyone who has worked with Larry Bach knows he is a man with ideas—lots and lots of ideas. But Larry is also a doer who knows how to work with people to make things happen. In an interview in 2018, Larry recalled the genesis of many changes that transpired under his leadership.

“Dr. Don Argue was the president when I came to North Central, and when he left, I distinctly remember sitting down with our new president, Dr. Gordon Anderson. At that time, we had one music degree, Church Music. I told Dr. Anderson there were a lot of things that I thought we could potentially do: We could get into recordings, we could be writing new music, we could be teaching our students to be psalmists for the next generation; we could have a recording studio, and we could be teaching people how to do recordings. I had all these ideas! I thought, ‘Well, I’m either going to do these things here or go in a different direction.’ And I remember this conversation with Dr. Anderson, and he said, ‘I don’t see why we can’t do that.’ Nothing happens overnight, but from those early nineties until today, every single thing that we talked about has happened.”

The implementation of Larry Bach’s ideas over time has had a tremendous impact on North Central and people all over the world. In one area alone— worship—the creation of Worship Live teams has led to hundreds of recordings and hundreds of churches singing NCU music. Under Larry’s leadership, thousands of students have gone out from North Central to serve in music and ministry careers around the globe. Indeed, North Central continues to create psalmists for the next generation.

CHANGEMAKER

To prepare the next generation of psalmists, Larry realized North Central needed to change the music and format of daily chapel services. Larry was the song leader for chapel in his early years, and the only instruments they used were piano and sometimes organ. Outside of North Central, churches were starting to expand their worship music to include contemporary songs and utilize a broader range of instruments. Larry wanted to do this in chapel but had a significant obstacle: all of the faculty were required to sit on the stage for chapel, and there was no room for instruments like guitars or drums.

“For me to do worship the way I knew we needed to do it—with a full band and singers and monitors and with a high level of excellence—meant that all the faculty had to get off the platform,” Larry recalled, “and that was no little thing.”

But for Larry Bach, where there’s a will, there’s a way. He approached Gordon Anderson at the beginning of his first year as president and said, “You know, I can make you such a popular president! Tell all the faculty that they no longer have to sit on the platform and tell them it’s my fault. If anybody complains to you, you can just say, ‘You know … those musicians!’”

The faculty moved off the stage, and the instruments and band members moved on. “That was definitely a pivotal moment,” Larry said. Although he had been considering pursuing other options, such as conducting, classical music, or professional singing, the chapel change caused him to believe he could accomplish everything he had envisioned for the school. “That was the time I thought: I’ll probably be here my entire career.”

RECRUITER AND FUNDRAISER

One of Larry Bach’s most significant contributions to North Central may not be musical but monetary. He is a North Central ambassador wherever he goes and is relentless in recruiting students and raising funds. Under his leadership, the music program grew from approximately 15 majors to nearly 150 today. Larry knows how to raise money—and he doesn’t mind asking for funds whenever there’s a need. There are not sufficient records to point to all the dollars that have come into North Central through Larry’s words, the presence of student musicians or actors at events, concerts, fundraising events, camps, and more.

Larry leaves a truly lasting legacy for the College of Fine Arts as he retires: The Fine Arts Endowment. “The biggest thing of all that I took on in fundraising,” Larry said, “was the dream that I felt came directly from God about starting an endowment for the College of Fine Arts 11 years ago.” Bach’s ultimate goal is for the endowment to reach $1 million, and as of May 2022, it is getting close, with Larry’s latest “pitch” at the 2021 Christmas concert resulting in moving the needle toward the $700,000 mark. It was fitting that the first expenditure funded by the endowment was the commissioning of an original piece by composer Michael John Trotta, which North Central debuted at Bach’s farewell concert on April 5.

CONDUCTOR AND COACH

For much of his career at NCU, Larry Bach could be spotted in the gym almost as much as in the choir room. “Early on, I loved sports,” Larry said. “All the athletic directors were my best friends. I spent almost every afternoon in the gym, played with the basketball team, hung out with the basketball coaches throughout the ’80s and ’90s.” Larry also coached the golf and tennis teams and became a United States Professional Tennis Association tennis pro. He still plays golf and tennis regularly—something he plans to continue in retirement.

Larry recalled when NCU had a “really good faculty basketball team. The five of us would play the North Central Varsity team with refs and the student body. The students would fill the gym and root against us. It was so fun.”

Playing on the faculty basketball team led to an injury his former students still talk about. “My favorite Larry story,” said Gina Zarletti ’05, “is when he walked into Chorale one day after he had broken his pinky playing basketball. The top part of his pinky was sticking out in the other direction, and is still doing that because he told us if he put it back in place, he would lose the movement. So he kept it the way that it is.”

GRAND REUNION

As a leader, Larry Bach often stands in front of the crowd or walks the road ahead, but he knows that his success was never due to himself alone. “I want to thank all the great professors who have been part of the College of Fine Arts. We’ve had incredible part-time people who have come and taught their instrument or taught voice and many full-time faculty over the years.” Larry reflected. “And I’m just so grateful for all those people’s lives that have intersected. We have just had great faculty, and then I think of nearly 41 years of students, and it’s just amazing.”

Larry has a particularly soft spot in his heart for all the students who have been part of the North Central Chorale. “The one class I’ve done from the day I got here is Chorale. I have had hundreds and hundreds of the alums over the years, and the time I’ve spent with them—and the fact that I still intersect with so many of them—I just can’t be thankful enough.”

Judging by the presence of more than 120 alumni on campus to sing under Bach for his grand-finale concert on April 5, the feelings are mutual. For three days that included rehearsals, banquets, and the performance itself, stories of Bach’s influence were part of every conversation. Larry and Jerilyn have impacted generations.

NO UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Larry Bach originally planned to retire in 2020, but COVID affected this goal for two years in a row. Bach stayed on at the request of President Scott Hagan, but the time has come, at last, to say goodbye. Larry is leaving with a heart of gratitude, no regrets, and a sense that he has left nothing undone.

“I don’t know that there are a lot of people that can say that in their life,” Bach reflected. “And I think that’s why I’ll probably always be grateful to have had this career. So yes, I might have had to argue. I might have had to … you know … have a few ‘come-to-Jesus’ times. But there’s always that give and take, and in the end, as I look back, there’s not one thing that I really wanted to do that I didn’t get to do. I feel like I have no unfinished business and feel so great about that.”