I am sitting in the Amhurst Elementary gym with the most entertaining, fun, yet stern, teacher ever for me to see as an elementary choir director. Wow. The kids know who’s boss but also want to keep coming to create really cool music! I have heard modal/minor warm-ups, English, and even German...and Swahili?! There are three parts to this treble choir, and they are pretty darn on-key and in-tune. How many songs have they sung? LIKE FIVE?! We still have fifteen minutes to this thing!
I’m just amazed at how well the director knows her stuff. I’ll bet she has to prepare for these elementary choral pieces just as much as a high school choir director has to. I am so impressed.
I can tell she’s a Kodaly person. Tracy had told me that she was, and that’s just—well—wonderful. They have very good musical ownership. They practice outside of choir—which has to be essential, since they only meet once a week. I’m so excited for them! I can’t wait to hear what this choir does, and what the choristers wind up doing with their lives. I guess that’s the beauty of being a “choirmaster.” You get to watch kids grow and become real people.
Okay, just as an ending note, there are five more minutes to rehearsal. Edie has just asked the students to take out their seventh piece. Wow. They even started ten minutes late. This is awesome. I want to be a music teacher when I grow up.
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