Kysar took the helm in 1982, and led the choir in more than 500 appearances around Puget Sound and five overseas tours, including performances in some of the finest concert halls in France, England and Australia.

A graduate of Central Washington University with BA and MA degrees in music education, he spent nine years teaching in junior and senior high schools in the Highline School District. As general manager and music director of Pacific Lively Arts, he produced high school summer stock and semi-professional programs, conducting shows like Oklahoma, and Fiddler on the Roof. As baritone soloist, his performance credits include the Seattle Gilbert & Sullivan Society, Seattle Civic Light Opera and the Seattle Opera Chorus. For several years Kysar and soprano Sherry Meinert sang locally as the duo known as "A Gift of Song".

In the 1970s, Kysar pioneered in publishing and promoting vocal music and in the 1990s, in addition to his work with the choir, he began publishing music on the web, one of the first in the nation to publish jazz choral music. He also developed a seminar on mental discipline for performers, appearing around the country at universities, professional organizations and schools. A full time Microsoft employee for 9 years, he frequently returns as a consultant.

In 2005, with support from the Boeing Employees Choir, he founded Sing for Life, joint choir festivals which demonstrate to intermediate and high school choral singers that music can be a lifelong pleasure, no matter what career path they chose. Since then, more than 1,000 singers in the Maple Valley School District have thrilled to the experience of Sing for Life, said Jackie Rupert, the district’s choral teacher.

"All of Mike’s achievements are packaged within an extraordinary gift of showmanship," said Gordy Harms, a bass who has sung with Kysar since the beginning. "In addition he has a profound compassion for his fellow travelers on this planet and has instilled into his choir members the knowledge that music can touch and heal those in need. And he loves a good party," Harms added.

Singers who were choir members during the past 28 years are encouraged to come to the concert and share momentos and stories at the reception. King of Kings Lutheran Church is in Renton, at 18207 108th S.E.