Dr. Henry Bauer was appointed Director of Music at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes in Spokane, WA, in 2018. He earned a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Sacred Music from The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC where he studied conducting with Dr. Leo Nestor. His doctoral dissertation is on choral literature for the liturgical year. He holds a Master of Liturgical Music Degree also from The Catholic University of America where he studied organ with Dr. Robert Grogan. He received a Bachelor of Music Degree in Piano Pedagogy, cum laude, from Butler University in Indianapolis, IN where he studied piano with Dr. Steve Roberson and organ with Ruth Eickhorst.
At the Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes, he directs the Schola Cantorum, Cathedral Choir, and Diocesan Choir as well as is Artistic Director of the Sacred Music Series. He has served as a Director of Music and Liturgy in parishes in the Archdiocese of Washington.
Dr. Bauer is a member of the National Association of Pastoral Musicians (NPM) where he serves as Chair of the Director of Music Ministries (DMM) Forum, coordinates the Choral Anthem Project, and leads reading sessions on choral music. He is also a member of the American Guild of Organists (AGO) and the local Spokane Chapter. For the local Spokane AGO Chapter, he serves on the board as a member-at-large focusing on Professional Concerns and Programming. He also holds membership with the Conference of Roman Catholic Cathedral Musicians (CRCCM).
Throughout his career, he has presented workshops for cantors and organists, lectures on the role of music and musicians in the liturgy, and choral rehearsal techniques. He was co-editor for the 2024 edition of Hiring a Director of Music Ministries: A Handbook and Guide published by the National Association of Pastoral Musicians and has written articles for Pastoral Music. He served as a Core Committee member for two NPM National Conventions and was a Chapter Director and a Treasurer for the NPM Chapter in Washington, DC.
In 2013, Dr. Bauer was the director of the Opening and Closing Events Choir of the NPM National Convention in Washington, DC. He has led his church choirs on choral pilgrimages to Europe.