Jan Bender

Bender, Jan Oskar was born on February 3, 1909 in Haarlem, Netherlands. He moved with his mother to Lubeck Germany, to study organ and conducting and theory. He became an organist at St. Gertrude in Lubeck. Jan served in the military during World War II. After the war he served as a visiting professor and organist at Valparaiso University in Indiana, and the University of Denver. In 1960 he emigrated to the United States and settled in Seward, Nebraska, where he was a teacher. He also taught at Concordia Teachers College and Wittenberg University in Springfield Ohio. In 1976 he retired to Hanerau, Germany. In 1979 he served as visiting professor at Valparaiso University, in 1979-1981 at Gustavus Adolphus College in St Peter Minnesota, and in 1982 at Lutheran Theological Seminary in Columbia, South Carolina. Bender was very involved with hymnody. Many of his compositions use chorale tunes (and texts), both in cantatas and choral settings. He died on December 29, 1994 in Hanerau, Germany. He died on December 29, 1994 in Hanerau, Germany Holstein.

NN, Hymnary. Source: http://composers-classical-music.com/b/BenderJan.htm