UNION CHURCH

Billie Bandermann

Our Director of Music, Billie Bandermann, was born and raised in Hawaii. Her father, who was part native Hawaiian and was Fire Chief of the Islands, died when Billie was only five years old. Her mother, of European heritage, was a college teacher. Billie sang from an early age, spending much time listening to the great classical and jazz singers of the time. She learned to play many instruments in school, and eventually went on to study voice at Long Beach State University, where she earned a B.A. in music. She continued her music studies at the University of Hawaii, then at San Jose State University, where she earned an M.A. in voice performance. She also studied at the Opera House in Zurich, Switzerland and studied the German language at the Goethe Institute in Munich.

Billie met Lothar Bandermann, our resident composer, in 1969 in Honolulu where he was teaching physics, and they were married in 1970. They have three children, ages 23, 26 and 29 (2002). In Hawaii Billie taught music in schools and sang with the Honolulu Symphony and Opera as well as in other musical productions. The family moved to California in 1978 and has lived there since. Billie has been a voice teacher and choral director at De Anza College for 19 years, where she was director or soloist in many musical productions, and has been Director of Music at Union Church for 14 years.

Click here for a tribute to Billie by one of our congregation, Carol Ames.

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