Band:
What’s the best part about the music program?
Music is just worth it. Music is music of course! I mean, there’s so many places in high school where people can find their little niche and music is one of those. I have a lot of kids that do music and band all four years. They’ll be at football games and their buddies will be there and it’s kind of their little home at Liberty. Besides the fact that making music is great, there’s also a great home community aspect.
How does the band work with the other departments at Liberty?
The athletic department gives us a lot of love, and the same thing happens when we work with cheer on dances. Liberty has a really great culture. As for collaboration with the other music teachers, I’m going on a field trip with the orchestra director and students to the Seattle Symphony in a couple of weeks.
Do you teach any other music classes?
I teach guitar and I really like it. It’s often quite popular with really big classes. A lot of those guitar students keep playing for years and years and years after having that class for just a semester. I just don’t want people to sleep on that class. If you’re not in a band or choir orchestra person, join guitar!
Orchestra:
What is it like teaching music?
While music classes do have content and standards like any other class. I personally feel it is more closely related to coaching a sport where each individual is learning skills and working on personal growth and then applying that in a group effort for an overall goal of a group performance. For example, In a math class if the student next to you fails the quiz, it would not affect you. However in orchestra, if the student next to you is not playing their part correctly it affects everyone in the ensemble.
Why is the music program important to Liberty?
Every student is a completely different individual. It is important to have a variety of options to fit all students’ needs and desires. Many of the orchestra students are also involved in other activities at the school such as ASB, many different sports, and ROTC. I think having these varied experiences is what makes our students so amazing.
What are orchestra festivals and concerts like?
Concerts and festivals are both a celebration of all the work the students have done as well as sort of a culmination and “final exam” for that time period. While our festivals are not a direct competition, they are adjudicated, and we take the competition and how we perform very seriously. Along with all this every performance is an opportunity for growth and hopefully we learn from any mistakes.
Choir:
What’s it like for the students in choir?
For a lot of the students, especially the ones that kind of stay with the music program through their four years, it really becomes like a large family. They’re kind of like brothers and sisters and they play around and they joke and they fight and it becomes very familial, which can sometimes be seen as loose or chaotic to some people, but it’s an organized kind of chaos. So for most people, this is the place they come whenever they have a mental break.
Why are music programs important?
I think that music like other performing arts, drama, or visual arts mediums, are important for well rounded students. If students only learned how to read writing arithmetic there, they wouldn’t have the experience of the collaboration, or the public speaking that comes with music. It’s important to learn how to relate interpersonally to other people and not just to the textbook or the computers.I think it’s extremely important for us to become people and not just automatons or robots.
What’s it like teaching music?
It’s a lot of fun. The first thing I’d say is that I enjoy music a lot. I like being able to share that with students and make musical memories and you know, be present and express feelings. It’s also about learning a lot about the subject and the theory behind it. It’s very cool for me, I really enjoy the whole process. Alongside that, our class is a team effort. So students have to work together to accomplish a goal, which is to sing this phrase, or learn this song or sing these parts well together, which takes a whole lot of collaboration and trust. Students, although independent within the choir, cannot just be independent students. They have to be part of a whole.
Speakouts: What’s your favorite part about doing music?
Jherica Paulino (12)
My favorite part about doing music is the shared experiences and trauma we have all together as a community. Beyond sharing the love of music, we all know when we absolutely devour a piece or if it was our worst run. We just click in our own unique way and are on the same brainwave to play and work well together.
Mia Williamson (12)
My favorite part about doing music is the feeling when you can finally put a piece together and start incorporating more meaning. Choral music can be pretty emotional: sorrowful, defiant, hopeful, loving—the list goes on. Adding feeling to a piece means adding intention, and adding intention means committing to the score in its entirety. The feeling of commitment throughout the entire choir creates a community and sense of togetherness that I love.
