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Austin360 blogs > Austin Arts: Seeing Things > Archives > 2009 > November > 24
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Austin Children’s Choir founder dies
Bernard Gastler, founder of the Austin Children’s Choir, died Saturday. Gastler died of a stroke. He is survived by his wife, Ruth Meyer Gastler, and two children, Connie and Gregory. Gastler was 80 years old.
Founded in 1986 by Gastler with the support of Concordia University, the choir performed throughout the country and locally. Gastler served as the choir’s conductor and artistic director for 23 years.
Over the course of his career, Gastler worked as an elementary school teacher and minister of music at Trinity Lutheran Church in Port Arthur and at St. Paul Lutheran Church and School in Austin, where he has also served as an organist. In 1982, he became a professor of music at Concordia University Texas.
Memorial services are pending.
