John H. Melcher died peacefully in his sleep at his home in Elgin, Illinois on Saturday, June 27, after a long battle with lung cancer. He was 73. A son of George and Ethel Melcher, he is survived by his long-time partner, John Morrison. Born in Perth, Ontario, Canada on March 1, 1936, Melcher came with his family to the United States when he was still young. He attended Steinmetz High School in Chicago, and gained his U.S. citizenship through service in the US Air Force. Melcher received an undergraduate degree in organ and choral conducting from Beloit College, a graduate degree from the University of Michigan, majoring in organ, choral and instrumental conducting,and a Master of Sacred Music degree from Union Theological Seminary.
Melcher studied organ with Leo Sowerby, Robert Noehren, and Flor Peeters, and harpsichord with Isolde Ahlgrimm, conducting with Margaret Hillis and Robert Shaw, voice with Thomas Wickman and Henri Noel, and choral conducting, voice and children's choral technique during summers at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey. As a tenor, he sang two seasons in the chorus of the Santa Fe Opera, several seasons in the chorus of Music of the Baroque, and appeared in lead roles with the Elgin Summer Repertory Theatre productions of The Mikado and Pirates of Penzance. John directed several community theater productions of Broadway shows in Palatine, Illinois, and was music director for the Park Ridge Gilbert and Sullivan Society's The Gondoliers.
John conducted the first Sing Along Messiah in Park Ridge at the Pickwick Theatre. John's longest appointment was his over thirty years as the Music Director of the Northwest Choral Society, where he was loved by audiences and chorus members alike for his imaginative programming, excellence in choral preparation, and skill as an arranger and composer. A member of the American Guild of Organists, John served as organist-choirmaster at St. Mark Lutheran Church, Chicago, from 1968-71, St. Martin's Episcopal Church, Des Plaines, from 1971-80, and Morgan Park Methodist Church, from 1980-83. John served as minister of music at the First United Methodist Church in Park Ridge from 1983-97. He joined the staff of Christ The Lord Lutheran Church in Elgin, Illinois, in 1997, serving as cantor, organist, choral and handbell choir director. In 2006, Melcher joined Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Elgin as Director of Music Ministries, where, until his illness intervened, he directed two vocal choirs, a handbell choir, a string ensemble, and was responsible for the overall musical program. He served the Chicago Master Singers as a lecturer, program notes author and workshop clinician. In 1998, John joined the staff of the Suzuki School of Elgin, where through March of 2008 he served as accompanist and coach for the ensemble classes. From 1999 to 2007, John conducted the ELCA Lutheran Outdoor Ministries Swing Choir for high school students in its summer choir tour of southern and central Illinois.
July 14, 2009
Chicago Tribune
