By Chrystal (Duquette ‘03) Houston
In the history of York University, few personalities loom larger than Dr. Clark Roush, Professor of Music and Endowed Chair for the Performing Arts, affectionately known to his students simply as “DR.” For four decades, DR’s baton has kept time over a variety of musical ensembles, as well as the university’s flagship choir, currently known as the York University Singers. In the classroom, he has taught music theory, ear training, conducting, music history, methods classes, and countless sections of music appreciation, where he shared his love of music with students beyond the risers and trained the next generation of music educators and worship ministers. He has devoted the majority of his life to this calling, and now, as his career builds to a final crescendo, it is fitting to fermata and reprise, to go back to the beginning, to reexamine the themes and appreciate the music once more.
Oh How Kindly Hast Thou Led Me*
DR’s first experience leading a group of singers included balancing on a milk crate.
He was nine years old. His father was in charge of the service roster for their church and asked his young son and recently baptized brother in Christ, “Don't you think you should use your talents for God's people?”
And so he did.
Soon, DR was leading the congregation in worship. For a time, he considered a career in pulpit ministry, but as his musical talents developed throughout his teenage years, he came to realize his true calling. By the time he graduated from high school, he answered with confidence when people would ask what he wanted to do with his life: earn a doctorate, become a choral director at a Christian college or university, have a wife and two children, and live a life of service and musical excellence.
For those who know the passion and precision that DR brings to every rehearsal, it is hardly surprising that he followed this life plan like a musical score, with meticulous attention to each measure.
He attended Harding University and majored in music education, choosing that school for its reputation for placing music educators in jobs. While there, a young soprano named Sue Morris caught his eye. Unfortunately, she was dating his best friend and fellow music major at the time.
Also, she thought DR was rude and obnoxious.
Dr. Roush leading songs in chapel in the late 80's.
Eventually, they became friends, and when the relationship with the other guy ended, DR made his move--despite the fact that Sue had declared, “I’m never going to date another music major!” It took time, but he convinced her to give him a chance. The pair married in May of 1981, shortly after he graduated from Harding. The friend/previous suitor was the best man at their wedding.
“She stole my heart, and she still has it,” DR reflected.
Majestic Sweetness
Anyone who knows DR knows of his great love story with The Queen, or TQ as he called her. As big a personality as DR is, Sue was his counterbalance, his equal, his partner in every way. She earned a bachelor’s degree in business from York University and worked for years in the business and advancement offices. She had a head for business and a heart for the arts, often using her position in the advancement office to secure support for arts programming. She was regularly a featured performer for York University Spring Works concerts, her powerful soprano voice reaching the rafters. The couple also collaborated at the Yorkshire Playhouse, York’s community theatre, and their sons were often a part of the musical and theatrical productions as well.
“He modeled what a Christian husband is,” recalled Dr. Jordan Sikes ‘03, who was choir president from 2001-2002. “Sue was always second only to God in his life. He lifted her up like a queen. He served her.”
Tragically, DR and TQ’s duet was cut short in 2020 after a battle with pancreatic cancer and its aftermath. Sue was mourned by so many, but none more deeply than her spouse and creative partner of more than 38 years. In the wake of her death, DR took up a pen and wrote his way through the grief. During that time of personal and global turmoil, DR began writing letters to his beloved and posting them on social media. His vulnerability and eloquence as he explored the complicated emotional journey connected him to others experiencing grief around the world. He began to hear from readers over and over again, “Your words have helped me. You should write a book.”
His letters to Sue, and other grief writings he penned through the first two years
of life without her, eventually became I Lost My Anchor: A Creative Memoir of Grief, published in 2025. The week we spoke for this interview was the six-year anniversary
of her passing. “I'm pretty sure I'll never be done crying,” he said; however, he
is no longer in despair. “I am blessed to have had her for over 38 years. I believe
she is still helping me become everything that I could be. I still feel blessed by
her. In this phase of my life, I am trying to be God-honoring, but also Sue-honoring.
I would not be who I am without her.”
Nearer Still Nearer
Shortly after the wedding, the Roushes moved to Iowa City, Iowa, where DR completed an accelerated master’s degree at the University of Iowa. He started his career as a K-12 vocal music teacher in Walnut, Iowa, and while there, welcomed their son Matthew. In 1986, he accepted a faculty position at what was then York College and began teaching and conducting. A few years later, their son Mitchell was born. In 1995, Clark completed his doctoral studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Through his years at York, he helped the organization grow from a two-year to a four-year school to a university with master’s degree offerings. He is proud of the growth of the music department in particular. For the first decade he was at York, he was the only full-time music faculty member. As the program grew, additional faculty and degrees were added, including vocal music performance, vocal music education, music business, and worship ministry. He has served in a variety of administrative and leadership roles through the years as needs arose, from division chair to Higher Learning Commission faculty liaison, where he has played a crucial role in maintaining the university’s accreditation. During his years, he has also seen the program grow from sharing rehearsal space in the limited confines of Gurganus Hall and performing in larger venues off campus to the construction of the Bartholomew Performing Arts Center, where there is a dedicated rehearsal space and sufficient seating for the large audiences the choir attracts.
“I have been grateful for each administration that has supported the choir and the music department, thus allowing it to grow, as well as the many people who have given financially so that we can do what we do,” he said.
In addition to the choir, DR has directed a variety of other vocal ensembles and performances on campus, including Praise, His4, Gospel Messengers, Celebration Singers, Songfest, Cocoa and Carols, and musical theatre productions. He has also been involved in the York community arts scene for decades, especially at the Yorkshire Playhouse, where he directed musicals and served on the board. He is currently the director of York’s Creative District and was part of securing and distributing a recent $96,000 grant, used to upgrade equipment at the Playhouse and City Auditorium, as well as install more murals in downtown York. In an additional role, he also serves as a gubernatorial appointee to the Nebraska Arts Council board of directors.
While it wasn’t part of his job, DR says he is very proud to have helped several former students and colleagues earn their doctoral degrees, serving as a mentor, guide, and cheerleader through the long and challenging process.
In his decades of service, there have been many musical highlights, moments that DR reflects on with great satisfaction for the beauty created as well as the educational opportunities his students were given. York University is a small school in a rural area, but that did not stop DR from providing his students with a world-class education. While the annual choir tour through the Midwest is a mainstay of the program, in 2005, he and Sue took students on a 17-day, 10-concert tour of Japan, hosted by the Sendai Church and the four YU choir alumni who were serving as missionaries there.
“What a massive undertaking!” recalled Joel Osborne (‘00), one of the Sendai team who is still serving as minister in Japan today. Osborne reflected with awe on the fundraising and logistics of the trip: “Transporting 50 people internationally, and on buses through literally half of the nation, and coordinating their housing, meals, laundry, sightseeing and educational experiences, meaningful participation in the mission - you name it - was all so massive…And beautiful. And so incredibly impactful. In fact, there are people I run into here from the community who still remember when they came two decades ago.”
Dr. Roush leading choir while on Japan tour in 2005.
Another huge event occurred locally a year later when DR directed John Rutter’s Mass of the Children, which featured not only the Concert Choir, but the York Area Children’s Choir and professional musicians from the surrounding area. “It was a glorious night,” he said of the performance. “It was one of the most hectic semesters of my life, and I didn't even care.”
A few years later, DR took the choir to New York City to perform at Lincoln Center with renowned choral composer Eric Whitacre, whose works are regularly performed by the York University Singers. Closer to home, the choir has performed with Abendmusik (a Lincoln arts initiative) and at the Nebraska Music Educators Association annual conference on multiple occasions. Most recently, in Lincoln, they opened for Te Deum, a professional choir from the Kansas City area. “I've been blessed with the most amazing students, and I am always glad to show them off,” he said.
God Himself Is With Us
While he’s never worn the title of “minister” in a professional setting, DR has been a minister to thousands through his work in music. Part of daily choir rehearsal is dedicated to devotional and prayer time, and his students know that as much as he wants them to create great art, he isn’t striving for perfection, but rather for the glory of God. The music he selects for the choir each year is chosen thoughtfully, both for the message to his students and to their audiences. He often selects pieces that include scripture because he knows the words will imprint on the singers’ hearts in a way no sermon ever could.
Dr. Roush at the Homecoming concert in 2023.
In church settings, he has been a deacon, elder, teacher, worship leader, guest preacher, and more, plugging in wherever he is asked. He also regularly speaks in Chapel at York University and is always available to students in need of counsel or prayer. Recently, he earned a Certificate in Spiritual Direction through the Selah program at Abilene Christian University and is excited to be exploring his faith in new ways, but also recognizes that he didn’t need a certificate or a job title in order to minister.
Tisa (Lawrence ‘16) Krekel reflected that when she went through hard times as a student and for years after as a music educator, DR was a constant champion and voice of wisdom in her personal and professional life. He has played that role for so many of his students, celebrating their successes, praying for them, and offering counsel as needed, whether they earned a music degree or not. He cares about their musical and professional endeavors, but not nearly as much as he cares about their relationship with Jesus.
DR announced recently that he would be retiring at the end of the 2026 school year. While he’s not sure what this next phase of his life will look like, he intends to continue his vision of a life of service. DR says that on his headstone, he wants to be remembered for just a few things: servant of God, husband to Sue, dad to Matthew and Mitchell, Papa to his grandchildren, and conductor of the York choir. “If that is all people know of me, that is enough,” he said.
And so a grateful York University choral community says to you, Dr. Roush, “the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord makes his face shine upon you, and give you peace.”
*Headings are titles of Roush’s favorite hymns to lead in worship
A reception in honor of Dr. Roush will be held after the University Singers Spring Works Concert on April 27th. The concert will be held in the Bartholomew Performing Arts Center at 7:30 p.m.
In 2009, the Endowed Chair for the Performing Arts was established, with Dr. Clark Roush serving as its first holder. It was determined that upon his retirement, the chair would be renamed in his honor. With his retirement, the position now carries the title Clark Roush Endowed Chair for the Performing Arts, now held by Professor John I. Baker III.