He's the name on every music student's lips right now at Willow Glen Middle and High schools. This fall the 38-year-old professional opera singer joined the music department staff just so the students will "always be happy and successful at everything in life, not just music," he says.

Eisenmann replaces Jo Lynn Cunningham. Cunningham doesn't have a degree in music so she moved to an English and drama teaching position at Willow Glen High School, says Willow Glen Middle School Principal Darla Briggs.

"Several people were interviewing for the position, but Andrew has a passion for what he does, compassion for the kids, and he was really excited about building up middle school kids before they went into high school," Briggs says.

And it takes passion and dedication to work the hours Eisenmann does. He arrives at school at 6:30 a.m. to teach the jazz choir. Throughout the day he teaches beginning chorus, middle school chamber chorus, high school advanced chorus and a class taught in conjunction with San José City College to give high school students college credit.

After school he leads student rehearsals for special concerts and musicals until 8:30 p.m.

The middle school has a concert April 2, and The Pajama Game, a spring musical featuring both schools, runs May 8 through 11.

Junior Franchesca McArthur wasn't going to audition for the musical until Eisenmann encouraged her. She's involved with extracurricular sports but made time for the musical because she loves singing.

"Mr. Eisenmann is always there for you," McArthur says.

Other students say he teaches them the proper way to breathe while singing—through the stomach and not the throat. Senior Cody Smith says Eisenmann is very organized and dedicated, always running around at concert time to "make sure everything is going smoothly."

He also helped students choose songs and gave each one of them personal attention for the spring musical auditions, says John Harp, a senior who plays the lead antagonist in The Pajama Game. Harp is nervous about the musical because he will be singing with a semi-professional orchestra during the play's performances, he says. This is the first time a spring musical of this magnitude has been produced at Willow Glen Middle and High schools.

Senior Marisol Sanchez, who is in the musical's ensemble, didn't have experience singing before this year but says Eisenmann gave her "lots of confidence" by encouraging her.

He's also encouraged Samantha Beardslee, a junior who is in the advanced choir and spring musical. She has been singing in church and school since sixth grade, but she says, "[Eisenmann] makes me feel good about myself and my voice. He gives me good tips to improve on my performance. He also encourages us to use our talent in the future, not just in high school."

While leading the advanced choir class, Eisenmann constantly moves to direct the various sections. Between musical numbers he pauses to answer students' questions and make witty jokes that keep the classroom atmosphere light.

He also offers words of advice about performing in front of an audience—"whisper at the end of this song—it will give audience members goose bumps."

Instead of rehearsing a song in its entirety, Eisenmann's policy is to work with pieces or "chunks" of the music so students don't get bored, he says.

"I remember being in band and getting tired of playing one song over and over again," says Eisenmann, who played trumpet at VanderCook College of Music in Chicago and taught in Redding, Calif. and Indiana. "When I see them falling asleep I move onto something more upbeat."

He left graduate school at VanderCook in 1992 to pursue a career in opera, which ended up taking him to three different countries and 17 states. A baritone, Eisenmann has performed with operas in Sacramento, Cleveland, Anchorage and San Jose, among other cities. He began his career singing leading roles in Opera San José as part of its Principal Artists in Residence Program.

More than half the students Eisenmann began teaching this year are first-year singers and have improved tremendously, he says.

This is Ashley Acuff's first year in the choir, and the eleventh-grader says the class has brought her out of her shell. Another junior, Daniel Rivera, got a part in the spring musical's ensemble even though this is his first year in choir. He says Eisenmann helps him hit the high notes.

Photograph by Sarah Ruby Casting Call: The Willow Glen High School Choir will be performing in the school's spring musical, 'The Pajama Game.' Students (from left) Samantha Beardslee, junior, Franchesca McArthur, junior, Marisol Sanchez, senior, Daniel Rivera, junior, Reyna Castro, junior, and John Harp (front center), senior, and Andres Furtado, junior, are part of the cast.

"If these students can stand up in front of an audience of 300 people then a job interview will be easy because they just have to speak," Eisenmann says. "My goal is for them to understand they can be great in anything they do, and things they learn in this class can transfer into anything. I hope to be a role model for these students."

For more information about "The Pajama Game" or other school concerts, call Willow Glen Middle School at 408.535.6277 or Willow Glen High School at 408.535.6330.