Director and accompanist Jan Baer goes over music with original members of the Voices of Praise, from left, Clayette Bullard, Tina Spees and Theresa Seabloom. (Photo by Mary Grieco)

Mary Grieco
Special to the Catholic Herald

It was 50 years ago, on July 4 to be exact, that the Voices of Praise sang at their first Mass in Rhinelander. Over the years, the group’s singers have come and gone, but Jan Baer, the director and accompanist, is still at the piano.

After being a familiar part of liturgies at St. Mary’s Church (now Nativity of Our Lord) for decades, the focus of their ministry eventually transitioned from singing in church to sharing their talents during regular monthly visits to area nursing homes and assisted living facilities.

“We had to continue,” said Baer. “We shared so much and had formed treasured friendships. A few of us from those early days are still here; we can hardly believe it. Fifty years!”

Baer reflected on the Voices’ early years, when Vatican II changes were being implemented. “Composers were turning out new liturgical music,” she remembers. “There were new songs of praise that we could actually all join in on, with words, in English!

“We all knew that our main goal as church musicians was to enable participation by people in the pews. More than once in the 1980s, people from the parish offered to buy choir robes for us, but we always declined. We were part of the congregation too, and we didn’t want to be set apart,” she said. “We weren’t performers.”

Initially, Baer stood and directed some of the a cappella pieces, “but my hands were much more comfortable on the keyboard,” she said. So to this day she continues to accompany and direct from the piano.

Every month, the group goes to at least four facilities in the area, and residents arrive early, eager to be entertained, see familiar faces, and hear many well-known melodies. Although the Voices still sing spiritual songs, on any given day they might include a bit of Elvis, patriotic hymns, seasonal favorites and surprises.

“Doing this fulfills something in me,” said Theresa Seabloom, a long-time member of Voices. “Our hearts are really in it, and it’s rewarding to see the residents’ faces light up as they recognize the songs, and many sing along.”

“I think of this as a ministry,” added Clayette Bullard, who remembers singing with the Voices at that first Mass in 1976. “It is beneficial to us as well as to them. Music is healing.”

In recent years, the Voices’ calendar has also included participation in the Ecumenical Music Fest hosted annually in the fall at Nativity of Our Lord Parish.