In memoriam: Jerry T. Bidlack made music “a part of their lives”

Jerry Bidlack, a professor emeritus of music, orchestral and choral conductor, cellist, organist and lifelong champion of young musicians, died Sept. 21. He was 85.

Bidlack joined the music department faculty in 1973 and retired in 1995. During that time, he founded and directed the Lehigh University Philharmonic Orchestra, taught music theory, directed the women’s choir and served as university organist. He also served as music department chair from 1980 to 1986.

In 1976, Bidlack and his wife, Nancy, founded the Young People’s Philharmonic for middle school and high school students and the Junior String Philharmonic for fifth- through eighth-graders. Nancy Bidlack passed away in 2012.

Bidlack conducted the Junior String Philharmonic until 2010 and the Young People’s Philharmonic until last December. The two orchestras draw students from the Lehigh Valley, Stroudsburg, Kutztown, Quakertown and western New Jersey. More than 1,300 musicians have played in the groups since their inception.

Last March, Bidlack was honored at a gala concert by the Young People’s Philharmonic at Moravian College.

The impetus for founding the two youth orchestras, he told The Morning Call before the gala, was to “give kids who are in schools without an orchestra a chance to play, and for kids who are in a school with an orchestra, an opportunity to play music that’s more challenging.

“The important thing is for music to become a part of their lives.”

“Jerry Bidlack’s enthusiasm and love for music was infectious,” said Nadine Sine, the current chair of the department of music. “He was loved throughout the Lehigh Valley for founding, with his wife, Nancy, the Young People's Philharmonic. We will miss his presence at concerts and especially at Christmas Vespers.”

A memorial service for Bidlack will be held in Packer Memorial Church on Oct. 23, at 2 p.m., with a reception following in the Zoellner Arts Center.

Story by Kurt Pfitzer