Jeffri W. Bantz, 52, died July 31 after a brief illness. A native of Marion, Indiana, he moved with his family to Florida in 1969 when his father, The Rev. Wayne Bantz, started First Methodist Church of Coral Springs. A graduate of Deerfield Beach High School, he was concertmaster of the school orchestra. His first church job in Florida was at the First Baptist Church in Deerfield Beach. He served several churches including First Methodist Church of Pompano Beach and St. Stephen’s Episcopal in Coconut Grove. In 1981 he became organist and associate director of music at the First Presbyterian Church of Pompano Beach (known as the Pink Church
Bantz studied organ performance at Florida Atlantic University and the University of Miami. Throughout his conducting career he continued his studies with such choral conductors as Robert Shaw, George Bragg, Joseph Flummerfelt, David Willcocks, John Rutter, Howard Swan, Gerre Hancock, and James Litton. In 2000, Bantz joined the Florida Philharmonic Chorus as assistant director. When the orchestra folded three years later, he and Jo-Michael Scheibe led the chorus in its new form as the Master Chorale of South Florida.
Bantz was associated with the Florida’s Singing Sons Boychoir for 20 years. During his 17-year tenure as music director, the choir won numerous awards including at least four international first prizes during their many concert tours around the world. They included the 1996 Kathaumixw International Choral Festival and Competition in British Columbia, the 1997 Prague International Choir Festival in the Czech Republic, and the 1998 Princeton Invitational Choir Competition. Under Bantz’s direction, the boychoir was featured in performances with James Judd, Maureen Forester, Chanticleer, Audrey Hepburn, Liza Minnelli, Judy Collins, the Bee Gees (with whom they recorded a CD) and many others. A longtime member of ACDA, Bantz’s choirs were featured at state, divisional, and national ACDA conventions. He was the accompanist for the School of the Arts Singers, from the Dreyfoos School of the Arts in West Palm Beach, directed by his longtime friend and colleague Arlene Graham Sparks, at their Disney Hall concert at the 2005 national convention in Los Angeles. Bantz also served ACDA as the Southern Division Boychoir Chair in the 1990s.
Equally in demand as a solo artist or accompanist, Bantz performed in South Florida with the University of Miami Symphony, the Palm Beach Opera, the Miami Beach Symphony, the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra, the Ft. Lauderdale Symphony Chorus, the Gold Coast Opera, the Ft. Lauderdale Christian Chorale, and the Nova Singers. He also served as conductor or accompanist for numerous international artists such as Marvis Martin, Dean Peterson, Janice Chandler, Steven Rickards, Curtis Rayam and many others. An accomplished organist, Bantz was active in the American Guild of Organists, having served as Dean of the Ft. Lauderdale Chapter. He served as adjudicator and guest clinician for numerous festivals, clinics, and symposia throughout his career.
The recipient of many local, state, and national awards, Bantz was awarded the Joseph Leavitt Award for outstanding achievement in the arts in 1993. In 2005 he received the Distinguished Service Award from the Broward County Music Teachers Association.
Jeffri Bantz is survived by his parents, The Reverend Wayne and Marilynn Bantz, his brother Gregg and sister-in-law Julie, his aunt and uncle Carl and Virginia Bantz, cousin Bradley and his wife Janell, as well as additional aunts and uncles. He is also survived by his colleague and partner, organist Mark Jones. It was Bantz’s wish that there be no memorial service. A celebration concert of his life will be held at a later date. Contributions in his honor may be made to the Jeffri Bantz Memorial Fund, through the Foundation of the First Presbyterian Church, 2331 NE 26th Avenue, Pompano Beach, FL 33062. Personal expressions may be emailed to
—Mark Jones
Richard L. Krueger, 63 years old, died July 8 in Sunnyvale, California, after a valiant battle against recurrent melanoma cancer. The founding owner and chief recording engineer of Arkay Records, Krueger was born January 6, 1943, and took great inspiration from his entrepreneurial grandfather. He started Arkay records in October 1960, having studied recording engineering with Howard Dinowitz at CBS Masterworks, developing “360-Sound” using 3-channel recording. Mr. Krueger’s adaptation of this approach to organ recording produced a sense of realism.
From 1962–1965, Arkay Records was based in Chicago with 125 recordings of school and church music programs. In addition to recording choirs and organs, Krueger was also passionate about trains, recording thousands of trains, releasing 16 train albums and working for the railroad throughout the United States as an engineer and fireman. In 1967, Arkay Studios moved to San Mateo, California, and offered both recording and photography services. After a brief closure in 1969, Arkay relocated to Sunnyvale, specializing in train recording and selling hobby products. His recorded train sounds were used by MGM, Disney, Warner Brothers, Universal Studios and George Lucas Films in a total of seven motion pictures including “The Love Bug.”
In the 1970s, he also continued to record school and church music programs and helped to develop Westape, a company specializing in high quality cassettes and high-speed duplication. From 1967–1982, he recorded 150 record albums involving 72 artists. In October 1983, he released his first organ compact disc and from 1983–2006, he released 123 albums involving 80 artists, of which 63 were concert organists, in venues across the United States, France, Switzerland, Germany and Austria. He was an active member of the Peninsula Chapter of the AGO. He is survived by his two sons Robert and Christopher Krueger.
Among the artists who recorded for Arkay Records are Janice Beck, Craig Cramer, Angela Craft Cross, Pamela Decker, Jonathan Dimmock, Delbert Disselhorst, Paul Fejko, Faythe Freese, Stephen Hamilton, Barbara Harbach, James Higdon, Wilma Jensen, Boyd Jones, Marilyn Keiser, James Kibbie, Thomas Murray, Douglas Reed, Sandra Soderlund, Burton Tidwell, James Welch, David Westfall, and others.