Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Ellen Bartholomew (left) and Jeanette Yap perform, with the rest of the Fremont High School Choir, at Stocklmeir Elementary School. The choir will perform at the United Nations and in Times Square in New York later this month. Choir Director Joe Howard leads his group through a vocal warm-up.
Lift Every Voice
Fremont students have transformed their once-meager choir and music program into forces to be reckoned with
By Jana Seshadri
Unlike most American youngsters who emerge from their winter gloom to bask on the sunny beaches during spring break, Sunnyvale's Fremont High School choir headed to New York for a performance tour--to sing at the United Nations and Times Square.
"We are very excited about our trip," said Kassie Korobkova, 16, a junior, who sings soprano in the choir.
The choir--known as Bellacantorum, which means "beautiful singing group" in Italian--has compiled a special selection of Americana songs to sing in New York, Korobkova said. Besides their singing assignments, the 25-member choir will see a Yankees game and two Broadway shows and take a sightseeing tour, which will include a trip to Ground Zero, during their nine-day stay.
This is no small feat for any choir, especially for one from Fremont High, which did not have much of a program to speak of just a few years ago. The music program suffered due to funding cuts approved by Proposition 13 and it has since been a struggle to keep music alive in the school, according to Joe Howard, choir director.
The music program has grown incredibly over the past two years, Korobkova said.
"We get a lot of opportunities that other schools don't because of the drive of our leadership," Korobkova said.
On Feb. 10 the Fremont choir performed a half-hour show at the "Magic Music Days" program in Disneyland. The choir had to audition for the Disneyland chance by sending a tape first.
Choir Director Joe Howard leads his group through a vocal warm-up.
Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
The "show choir" this year is totally run and choreographed by students, Korobkova said. The students choose the music, choreograph the routines and practice for shows all by themselves, with expert guidance and help from Howard, she said. With time constraints stemming from the block schedule of classes, their practice times end up being in the evenings or nights, she said.
Their New York trip song selection ranges from the patriotic to the romantic, with numbers like "Rhythm of New York," "I'll Be There," "How Sweet It Is" and "Sugar Sugar."
Technically the only high school in Sunnyvale, Fremont High now boasts a full-fledged music program with entry-, beginner- and advanced-level classes for choir and band students. Howard, who's been in charge of the choir program for 10 years and is chair of the music department at Fremont, comes from a strong musical background. Both his parents taught music in the Cupertino Union School District for more than 40 years. Howard went to Lynbrook High School and graduated from San Jose State University with a degree in music.
"I've always wanted to teach students an entry-level keyboard class because it's important that they be able to read music and experience playing the notes and not just sit through a lecture," Howard said.
Although he loves to play the cello because of its rich sound, Howard said he hasn't yet seen an instrument he doesn't like to play. The only instrument that he hasn't played so far and would love to play someday is the bagpipe.
"I've been making something out of nothing," said Howard, regarding the music program.
Being the only teacher in the music department for the first few years, Howard said he had to teach all the music classes himself and take care of the after-school music and marching band programs as well. After years of relentless determination and tireless effort, Howard has expanded and fine-tuned the music program at Fremont High School to make it noticeably bigger and better. The choir is now 70 members strong, and Howard hopes to increase the number in the marching band to 70 by next year.
"There's power in numbers," he said. "For both choir and band, the bigger they are, the more confidence they have."
Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Members of the Fremont High School Choir warm up their voices before performing at Stocklmeir Elementary School.
Just having the numbers is not sufficient, he added. It takes quality to make an impression with quantity. Howard, with his intense training, has worked to develop and improve the quality of both the choir and the band.
"It doesn't happen in one year in high school, though," Howard said. "Music literacy takes four to six years."
In order to reach a level of competency in high school, students have to demonstrate some early ability and interest, which has to be nurtured and developed further, he said.
Howard attributes the major source of musical talent and interest to Columbia Middle School, one of the main feeder schools for Fremont. Thanks to an equally determined music department head in Bill Golden and a bunch of talented and interested students, it developed and improved into a wonderful program over the past few years, he said.
According to Dr. Joseph Rudnicki, superintendent of the Sunnyvale School District, Columbia Middle School, like Fremont, had a very limited music program five years ago but has since improved tremendously. Rudnicki, in elementary school, says that children who are exposed to music in their early development years tend to pick it up faster and show more interest than those who have had little or no exposure to music. These children go on to develop their musical ability and interest in middle school and later in high school, he said.
"We developed the interest, essentially," Rudnicki said.
In the past, the music department had to rely solely on funding from the the school association and other fundraising drives to provide students with just the basics, such as uniforms, sheet music and instruments. They had to raise almost $40,000 a year to cover basic costs, Howard said. But he said his persistence and effort have started to bear fruit. The department hired a second teacher, Joe Kelly, an expert on percussion instruments, and, under his tutelage, the percussion unit has been drumming awards away from other groups in competitions.
Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
The Fremont High School Choir, run by Director Joe Howard, is in New York this month to sing at the United Nations and at Times Square.
With the passage of Bond Measure H a few years ago, high schools had sole discretion to set aside their portion of the facilities modernization funds to use any way they saw fit by prioritizing their needs. Fremont has chosen to build a brand new music building with the money. From a 1,200-square-foot ill-equipped room, the music department will move into a 3,700-square-foot building, which looks like a musician's haven.
The program wouldn't be where it is now if it wasn't for the incredible support by the parents and the community, Howard said. Diane Hamill has worked tirelessly to support and promote the music program at Fremont for the last decade, even after her daughter graduated from the school. He added one parent donated a $27,000 piano to the department anonymously last year
Hamill and Howard, with hardhats on their heads and twinkles in their eyes, pointed out the different features as they toured the new music facility. The building, which Howard said he helped design, follows the mission architecture of the school with its high ceilings, and includes music, choir and band rooms, rehearsal and storage rooms, a big office area and a music library. Principal April Scott said the whole school community is excited about the new music building.
"I've been told that we can start moving in on August 15," Scott said.
Howard said jokingly that Scott's enthusiasm to move into the new building might stem from the fact that the band has been banging away on their drums, practicing just a few feet away from her office for the past few months.
Other parents have lent their support to organize the choir's travels, including the upcoming trip to New York. Leslie Francavilla, whose daughter Megan is in the choir, made all the arrangements for the New York trip. Francavilla said she wrote and received a $10,000 grant and organized the choir's singing engagements in New York.
Besides her fundraising efforts, each interested choir member raised $902 on their own to cover trip costs like airfares, boarding and lodging, she said. This they did by organizing car washes, selling candy and working at Stanford concession stands during events, she said. Several parents, still apprehensive after the Sept. 11 tragedies, decided not to send their kids on the trip, she said.
Now that Fremont's music program is on the upswing, Howard hopes to expand and improve its visibility in the community. At next year's "Correlation of the Arts" program, Howard has plans to put together a multicultural program, which would celebrate the diversity of the school population and combine the singing, dancing, stage craft, instrumental and living skills talents from the school's physical education, drama, music and dance departments. "We've had a wonderful three years; I think the momentum will keep going," Scott said.
Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
