Composer Paul Bouman will turn 100 on August 26, 2018. In a century he has certainly built a legacy, particularly in Lutheran church music. In 2015 the Center for Church Music produced an interview with Bouman (led by another MorningStar composer, Michael Costello), providing a great resource in getting to know the composer quite well in just an hour. We also love this article by Northwestern Magazine, which details Bouman’s connection to composer Michael Wolniakowski.
View Bouman’s music here.
Update: We are saddened to share that Paul passed away on April 28, 2019.
Paul Bouman was born in Hamburg, Minnesota on August 26, 1918. He earned a B.S. in Education from Concordia College, River Forest, Illinois, and attended Westphalian Church Music School, in Herford, Germany. He held positions as a Director of Music and as a teacher at Ebenezer Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; St. Paul Lutheran Church, Melrose Park, Illinois; and at Grace Lutheran Church, River Forest, Illinois.
He received many honors including the Spiritus Christi Medal from Concordia College, River Forest; the Te Deum Laudamus Award from Zion Lutheran Church, Dallas; and a Doctor of Humane Letters from Christ Seminary-Seminex, St. Louis, Missouri.
Bouman’s other activities included faculty roles at Lutheran, Chorister’s Guild, and AGO conferences across the country. As a member of the Illinois Grade School Music Association, his children’s choirs always received a top rating in the Illinois Grade School Contests.
In 1971 he co-founded with Carl Schalk the Bach Vesper Cantata Series at Grace Lutheran Church in River Forest. In 1984 he was invited to prepare the Children’s Choirs for the Bethlehem Bach Festival in Pennsylvania. He was also a member of the Advisory Board for the Bach Choir of Bethlehem.
Bouman held memberships in the American Guild of Organists, The Hymn Society in the United States and Canada, the American Choral Director’s Association, and the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians.
He was married to Victoria Bartling and had five children.
In Tune blog 
Wow … Happy Birthday and congratulations to Paul Bouman for his contribution to sacred music literature!
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Paul was a mentor and a friend when I was student at River Forest. His compassion and love of children and music has been an inspiration for many. Blessings on 100 years of service to God and the church.
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Please let us know if there will be a special celebration for him.
Many of my fellow classmates from Concordia University would
love to attend
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