Music

Honoring

Walter J. Blair (1866-1953)

Luella Blair (1899-1978)

Isabelle Blair (1891-1982)

Carole L. Bigler (1940-2009)

The Blair sisters, Luella and Isabelle, along with their father, Walter Blair, were prominent musicians and educators in the community and this church.  Walter Blair served as organist and choir director of the First Congregational Church from its founding in 1890 until his retirement in 1943. His daughters, Luella and Isabelle Blair, organized the Blair Studio where they taught privately, Luella on piano and Isabelle on violin.  Both sisters graduated from Northside High School and from the Corning Conservatory of Music, where they remained on the faculty for years after their graduation.  Luella was an organist at the First Congregational Church for many years and later served for more than 30 years at the First Presbyterian Church of Corning.  Isabelle was a violin teacher and conductor of the First Congregational Church orchestra.  She played first violin for the Corning Philharmonic Orchestra and was a founder of the Corning-Painted Post Civic Music Association.  The Blair sisters’ goal in life was to pass on their own and their father’s love for music to all their students.

Carole Bigler was the organist for the First Congregational United Church of Christ from 1967-2006. She was a gifted accompanist who shared her talents with the community, the congregation and the choir. She was well known throughout the world as a performer, teacher, and lecturer, inspiring thousands of students, teachers, and parents.  She taught piano pedagogy, philosophy, and the psychology of learning at music institutes and workshops.  She was co-founder of More Than Music, Inc., a company that ran summer music festivals for over 30 years.  She authored several books on music pedagogy and repertoire, and taught private piano lessons to students worldwide.  Carole developed the phrase “everybody’s perfect”, and she lived and taught by that philosophy. 

Through a generous bequest in 1982, the Blair family provided the initial funding and the inspiration for this concert series which provides annual performances for the community.  Since then memorial contributions in Carole Bigler’s name were added to support the music program at the church. Thus the decision was made to add her name, along with the Blair’s, to the annual concert series.

This year we are pleased to honor Richard "Dick" Perry’s musical contributions to Church, school, and community by adding his name to this concert series.  From this point forward, the concert series will be known as the Blair-Bigler- Perry (BBP) Concert Series. 

Dick Perry served as our Church Music Director from 1973 until he retired December 2016.  During those 43 years he built, managed and directed an exceptional musical program that enriched our worship beyond measure.

Dick was a music teacher/director in the Corning Painted Post School District, teaching at Northside Blodgett Middle School and East High School.  During his tenure as a teacher he also was the musical director of many great and memorable local musicals.

He is a composer, writing some of our church’s favorite anthems and responses.  Dick is an instrumentalist, playing his trumpet in local bands.  He also taught recorder in the schools and started recorder groups in the church and the community.  Dick also served as recorder instructor, voice teacher and chorus director for the Suzuki-Kingston Music Institute held at Queens University in Kingston Ontario, Canada.  It is always a special treat for our congregation to have Dick play the trumpet or recorder.

Dick generously shared his talent and energy with our church as a master choir and musical director.  Dick Perry and Carole Bigler were life-long friends and colleagues.  The team of Bigler-Perry made an unprecedented duo of musical talent and musical direction for our church.