Ron Bayer Retires After Years of Faithful Service to Green River

Ron Bayer, 62, is retiring after many happy years at Green River College as a music professor.

Bayer was a professor and the division chair of the Fine Arts Division. He taught classes such as music theory and ear training which each have four levels, and computer music class that taught students how to write music using computer programs and software such as “Finale” and “Reason”. 

 
He also taught the jazz choir at the school for a period of time and helped organize numerous events designed to foster young musicians to do live performances. One of these events is a yearly talent show that any student can enter and perform in front of a live crowd. 

Bayer has had a lengthy tenure at the college, starting at the school 23 years ago. Over that time, he has touched the lives of many students and helped the music department at the school grow into the fantastic program it is today.

But, his life and career have taken him many different places. Bayer started teaching in Wisconsin after finishing his graduate degree at the University of Illinois. After that he went to Western Michigan University to study with the esteemed jazz professor Steve Zegree. He then moved to Minnesota and taught there for a while. Finally, he moved to Washington where he has remained for the last 23 years.

Recently, Bayer was instrumental in bringing on a new teacher that will expand the music program here at the college immensely.  

The new professor will be teaching ethnomusicology which is the ethnic side of music history. Her classes will include world music classes and an ethnic drumming class. These classes are designed to draw more people to the music program and bring in more foreign and marginalized students, “And help them succeed in an area where it’s just a hands up drumming experience, where they don’t have to come in as experts, but just to come in and learn some techniques and styles,” Bayer said.

These are some of the numerous things Bayer has done to grow and expand the music department at the college. Ensuring that even after he leaves the music program here at the school will be strong, inclusive, thriving and something he’d be proud to leave behind.  

Green River is not his only teaching experience, though. Bayer has been teaching public school for 36 years but in total has 46 years under his belt. Along with being a fantastic teacher Bayer is also a classically trained pianist and started teaching piano lessons when he was 16 years old. 

The best part of any teacher’s job is watching students grasp the complex topic’s they discuss. Bayer is no different. He describes his best memories of teaching are when a student who’s not exactly a strong student really starts to get it.

“My whole concept of teaching is seeing students succeed,” Bayer said, “so I probably could pick a handful of times when I was working with a student who, maybe wasn’t the best student but, the light bulb went off and they had got something they had really been struggling on.”

When asked about his plans for the future, Bayer explained he had several ways to keep himself busy. He plans on adding a new addition to his home which will definitely keep him occupied but more than that, he expressed a desire to keep playing music. “You don’t think you’d ever stop being a musician, so I really would need to continue doing that,” said Bayer.

He plans on keeping the community chorus he teaches in Kent. Also, he would like to do accompanist work for solo and ensemble competitions and school choruses.

Bayer was a long-standing faculty member who is very respected amongst his peers and students alike and has definitely left his mark on campus. He said his favorite thing is to hear back from former students. “It’s really, really wonderful and joyful just to hear back,” said Bayer.

Bayer will be replaced as Fine Arts Division Chair by Gary Oliveira who is the photography instructor at the college. Bayer will certainly be missed. No doubt many of his former students would like to wish him a fond farewell and good fortunes in all his future endeavors.