Dr. Larry Warkentin’s love for music was kindled at 400 S. Jefferson.
As a Reedley, Calif., native and an Immanuel High School graduate, he trekked to Hillsboro in the fall of 1958 to craft his career aspirations.
Two of choral music’s most influential minds, Herbert Richert and Dr. Paul Wohlgemuth, gave Larry his foundation for more than 30 years in choral music. It’s a career that moved him amongst his professors in the Tabor College Arts Hall of Fame.
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Paula (Berg) Warkentin remembers watching her peer and soon-after husband hone his craft inside the Mary J. Regier Building. Originally planning to major in English, he’d walk from practice room to practice room as his path to music and composition continued to unfold.
A common bond and love for music brought them together. So much so, that Larry wrote “I Corinthians 13” for their Aug. 17, 1962, wedding at First Mennonite Brethren Church in Wichita, Kan.
That same year, then Fresno Pacific College President Art Wiebe called Larry and asked him to come to teach piano. They moved back west, and he began teaching part-time at FPC while earning his master’s degree at Fresno State University.
After completing his post-graduate work in 1964, they moved to Los Angeles where he earned his doctorate in choral music and composition at the University of Southern California. It is the same doctoral program that Wohlgemuth and later Choral Director Jonah Kliewer earned before also teaching at Tabor.
Larry began full-time work at FPC in the fall of 1966.
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Paula said they set a five-year window of seeing what Fresno had in store for them. Her husband would stay in touch with his classmates from USC, many of whom taught at some of the largest universities in the country. When they’d share some of their challenges, he felt it was his calling to remain in Fresno.
“He thought, ‘My heart is at Fresno Pacific where I could have a Christian influence on people,’” Paula said. “This just became his life.”
Larry spent 36 years at the university, teaching music theory and composition, and influencing generations of students through his instruction and his writing.
He has been recognized over a dozen times through the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) Awards. His work has been featured in Worship Hymnal, Sing Alleluia, Hymnal a Worship Book and Covenant Hymnal.
He was also commissioned to compose a work, later titled “Koinonia,” for the Mennonite World Conference in Wichita in 1974. Per the request of Dr. Jonah Kliewer, Larry also wrote the song that was sung at Tabor’s Centennial Celebration in 2008.
Amidst his heart for composing was a heart for people.
It’s part of what Tabor First Lady Karen Janzen, both Larry’s former student, and colleague, remembers about their time together. He also performed at the Janzens’ wedding.
“I’d walk into his office, and he’d be at his piano writing,” she said. “He’d have paper and pencils all over with stacks at each side. I’d step in and he’d say, ‘Yes, Karen, how can I help you?’ He’d put everything down and immediately talk with me. He was never in a frenzy, just very thoughtful and in the moment with his students and peers.”
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Paula watched the Tabor College Arts Hall of Fame in August 2021, seeing eight of the school’s most prominent professors be enshrined in the inaugural class. Of note in the class were Larry’s former choral professors and also Carl Gerbrandt (g’62), Larry’s high school and college classmate.
His wife said it was a bit stunning hearing of Larry’s induction. She also knows that Larry’s story would not have been possible without his time at Tabor.
“Larry went to Tabor at a bit of a crossroads in his life,” she said. “It was at Tabor that his love of music was affirmed due to people like Herb and Paul, who encouraged him and became his mentors. He would be so honored to know that he was recognized with this group of people.”