John and Susan Buehler, music professors at Baker University, conduct and accompany a Baker choir rehearsal at the First United Methodist Church in Baldwin City. They have spent 25 years building the university’s music program.

John and Susan Buehler met at Fort Hays State University, where she was a piano student and he was a vocal music major.

Baldwin City ? John and Susan Buehler met in a college music building. They’ve spent most of their waking hours in one since then.

“We had what I call a practice room romance,” Susan says of their courtship at Fort Hays State University, where she was a piano accompanist for John, a vocal music major.

“My voice teacher would argue that I never practiced,” John says. “The only reason I’d ever be in a practice room is if Susan were there.”

The Buehlers, cornerstones of the Baker University music program for 25 years, are retiring after this semester. They’ll hold their final concert on campus May 3.

They’ll leave behind a choral music program that is well-respected nationally, especially considering the size of the university.

“They have really, really, truly grown the Baker program,” says Trilla Lyerla, a colleague on the Baker music faculty since 1989. “They continue to find tradition, and they take it to the next level.”

‘Kick the ball’

The Buehlers are Kansas natives — he’s from Claflin, and she’s from Hugoton. They met at FSHU in 1966 and married in 1968, just before graduating.

John directed music programs at schools in several towns — including Ashland, Sublette, Hugoton and Winfield — before ending up in the Kansas City area to work on his master’s degree. While making the tour of Kansas, Susan taught piano lessons to locals.

John landed the choral director job at Baker University in 1984, and Susan also has taught at the university since then. They both eventually earned doctoral degrees from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

John has continued to direct the Baker choirs, and Susan has both accompanied the choirs on piano and taught students privately.

Both have taught a variety of music education courses through the years. They also have been in the music program at Baldwin’s First United Methodist Church. During much of the tenure, John has been choir director, and Susan has been organist.

Though he couldn’t have predicted they would have stayed 25 years, John says he knew the potential the Baker choral program had to offer. During the interview process, he remembers being impressed by the support of the leadership, ability of the faculty and talent of the students — all of which have continued through the years.

“I remember thinking everything’s in place there,” John says. “They just needed somebody to kick the ball in play.”

Though larger universities have come knocking — including the University of Tennessee — the couple decided to make Baldwin City home.

“Over the years, the comment was made that if there was a better job, we’d consider it,” Susan says. “I guess we never found a better job.”

Part of the community

Through the years, the Buehlers have put their heart, soul and almost even a kidney into the music program.

The Buehlers have led many international tours of the Baker choirs. Susan also has organized the university’s Artist and Lecture Series since 2000.

Through that series, the couple got to know several of the recurring artists well. So when famed guitarist Stephen Bennett became ill and needed a kidney transplant, John stepped up.

It turned out, John was a blood-type match and was put third on Bennett’s list of potential donors. The first donor was able to give, but John says he remains true to the offer.

They say that kind of spirit has kept them in Baldwin City through the years.

When asked his highlights as Baker’s choral director, John says many of them are community-related.

“One of the high points,” he says, “is every time I’d walk out of the back of the church and somebody walking out of the jewelry store would wave and call out my name.”

Balance of control

Of course, the husband-and-wife dynamic led to some interesting moments in the classroom.

“Every now and then, a husband-and-wife tone came into the conversation,” says Scot Schwartz, who graduated from Baker in 1991 and now is choral director at Shawnee Mission Northwest High School. “It was very entertaining.”

Schwartz says that dynamic was part of the personal development of generations of students — in addition to the Buehlers’ music instruction.

“I think everybody could pick up instantly the way they worked well with one another,” he says. “We could even admire that — as young college students — wouldn’t that be awesome, to work side by side with your best friend every day?”

John jokes that he learned a lesson early on: “She’s always right. Even when she’s wrong, she’s right.”

Susan explains it another way.

“It worked because he’s the choral man,” she says. “When we’re in rehearsals, it’s his rehearsal. Now, if he ever tried to tell me how to teach my students, I’d probably kick him out the door.”

True retirement?

Both of the Buehlers are excited about Baker’s new choral director. He’s Matthew Potterton, who most recently has been an instructor and doctoral candidate at the University of Colorado.

They feel they’re leaving the program at a good place, with plenty of talent and plenty of potential for the future.

As for themselves, they’ll be spending much of their time in Cannon Beach, Ore., about an hour from their grandchildren.

It’s a small community of around 2,000 people, with around 30 art galleries. But they see an opening to develop the performing arts community.

They may not be retiring after all.

“There may be more work to do,” John says.