Bruenner, Leopold 1869-1963

March 16, 1869 Leopold G. Bruenner born to Georg Bruenner, a trader in home produce, of Steinsfeld, Germany (near Habfurt am Main) and his wife Maria Anna Schleicher of Lauda an der Tauber, Germany. Baptized in the Catholic Church of Parish of St. Peter and Paul in the city of Wurzburg, Germany. Attended Royal Conservatory of Music, Wurzburg, Germany. Circa 1883 Emigrated to America. 1883-1887 Attended St. John's University, Collegeville, Minn. Vice-president of the English Literary Society, received Gold Medal of Merit in elocution, and graduated June 22, 1887. 1891 Played Clarinet in Fred Will Orchestra, St. Paul, Minn. Final naturalization, June, 1891. Choirmaster and organist of St. Matthew's Catholic Church. 1897-1956 Choirmaster and organist of St. Luke's Catholic Church, St. Paul, Minn. 1898-1903 Conductor of the St. Thomas College glee club, St. Paul, Minn. 1899-? Taught Gregorian chant at St. Paul Seminary, St. Paul, Minn. 1901-1902 Charter member of the Minnesota Music Teachers Association (MMTA). Taught piano, theory, and composition privately. 1909-1917 Organized and conducted the St. Paul Choral Art Society, a select group which sang masterpieces ranging from the Renaissance to Modern. Conducted the Knights of Columbus Chorus, the Stillwater Choral Society, and the Saegerbund des Nordwesterns (opera performances by the Knights of Columbus). 1913-1914 President, Minnesota Music Teachers Association. Composer of what Professor Robert Laudon had called the First School of Minnesota Composers. Other members of this school include Gustavus Johnson, Willard Patton, J. Victor Berquist, Stanley Avery, Donald Ferguson, Gertrude Sans Souci, Clarence Marshall, George Fairclough, William Mentor Crosse, Ernest Lachmund, Robert Griggs Gale, Emil Oberhoffer, etc. The Second School would be at the time of Krenek and Aliferis, during the 1940s and 1950s, and the Third would be the present-day Minnesota Composers Forum. 1918-1919 State Director of Liberty Choruses under the Public Safety Commission. 1919-1927 Organized and directed the St. Paul Municipal Chorus (reorganized as the Choral Art Society of Saint Paul), the first municipal chorus in the U.S. Resigned when the new church and organ at St. Luke's Catholic Church required his undivided attention. 1920-1931 Taught chorus and orchestra at St. Catherine's College, St. Paul, Minn. Also taught at the Visitation Convent Academy, St. Paul, Minn. 1956 Testimonial concert given Dec. 17 in Bruenner's honor by the St. Paul Chapter of the Guild of Catholic Organists and Choirmasters. Retired. 1963 Died at home, 304 Brimhall St., St. Paul, Minn., on Nov. 21. Funeral services at St. Luke's and burial at Cavalry Cemetery on Nov. 25.

The above chronology compiled by Robert Tallant Laudon, Professor Emeritus of Musicology, University of Minnesota, [1995?].