As the jazz choir circles around the piano to work with Eisenmann, smiles grow broader and grins become contagious. It's a sight not often seen in public schools, and one that observers would be hard-pressed to locate in most schools, where music electives have fallen victim to budget cuts. But at Willow Glen High School, it's becoming a common sight in the choir room.

What makes the choir program even more engaging is the diversity of students who participate. It is a United Nations of ethnicity, with a broad range of social backgrounds.

Junior jazz choir student Augie Adams, one of 245 students who perform in three different choirs at the high school, was already playing basketball, football and track before joining a choir. When he was placed in the jazz choir at the beginning of the school year, he didn't know what to expect. Then he discovered that for the first time in his life he had an interest in music and singing.

In fact the experience has been so significant Adams says, "I think it is my favorite class. When I graduate, I want to go to UC­Santa Cruz and maybe be in their choir, too."

He credits Eisenmann with piquing his interest in the jazz choir, because "he's really hyper and just makes me want to do it."

Senior Patrick Wilkus has participated in the school's different choirs—beginning, jazz and advanced—at Willow Glen High School during almost every semester throughout his four years. He says the school's choirs have come a long way since Eisenmann arrived and is glad that more students, even those who do not take choir classes, now take the program seriously.

Wilkus says choir has become his favorite class, and he enjoys performing in front of an audience.

Along with the usual difficulties associated with learning scores of music, Wilkus has the added barrier of having to memorize all his music by ear because he is blind. But this hasn't stopped him from pursuing it, and he is also learning how to play the guitar, although he hasn't yet mastered playing the instrument and singing at the same time.

"I've always been a music lover," he says. "When I was younger, I wanted to be a professional baseball player. But since I can't do that, I started doing music, and I've loved it ever since."

He calls Eisenmann the "Vince Lombardi of choir teachers," because he took "an awful choir and turned it into one of the best choirs ever."

Wilkus cringes as he recalls singing in previous choirs at the school that didn't croon on key, but now he is excited about watching the program flourish in the coming years.

Willow Glen High School Principal Elaine Farace came to the school two years ago, at the same time as Eisenmann, so she isn't familiar with the choir's past history, but she is delighted with Eisenmann's dedication to the students.

"He has built a tremendous energy and has involved many more students in the program than in the past," she says. "He's done a tremendous service for our kids."

Farace believes the performing arts are critical for a well-rounded education at the high school, noting that the spirit and community the choir has developed within the school is evident even to those outside the Little Theatre, where the students perform.

"I literally get tears in my eyes when I hear them sing," Farace says. "They have so much pride in what they do. The performing arts build confidence and help these kids achieve so many other endeavors outside of music."

Farace says that last year Eisenmann would come to school at 6:15 a.m. to teach students on his own time. The extra hours spent seem to be paying off, because in April the jazz choir will travel to one of its first music festivals in years, the Redding Area Variety & Entertainment Showcase. He is also planning a tour in Italy next year with about 50 students, mainly from the school's advanced choir. But he acknowledges that it will take quite a bit of fundraising to turn the tour into a reality. Yet he has ambitious plans for his young students, fervently believing in what they can collectively accomplish.

"Kids show up not knowing anything about music and leave feeling proud of themselves," Eisenmann says. "Music helps them in so many ways that they probably don't even realize."

He wants his students to leave class holding their heads a little higher, brimming with confidence. Most of all, he wants students to feel good about who they are.

"I came here with a lot of pomp and circumstance," he says. "I tell the kids that with huge risks come huge spoils."

And Eisenmann speaks from experience on the topic of taking risks. Before becoming a teacher, he was a professional opera singer with Opera San Jose, and before that he sang professionally with other companies throughout California and on the East Coast and performed in Europe.

Now that he has set aside performances in Carnegie Hall for the halls of Willow Glen, he has taken advantage of his connections in the music community and parlayed them into assets for his classes. So far, musicians from the Cleveland Opera, Opera San Jose, Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Santa Fe Opera, San Jose Symphony and San Francisco Symphony have all visited his classroom to share their real-world music experiences and provide a little musical mentoring.

"We have an arts partnership with the San Jose Chamber Orchestra," Eisenmann says. "They provide us with a soloist for performances and work with our violinists side by side."

He says it's the only arts partnership he knows of in the San Jose Unified School district. Another important partnership is the one Eisenmann has cultivated with parents of students in the music program.

Linda Eaman is the president of the music boosters, a group of parents who work to raise money and volunteer support for the program. Eaman says its takes thousands of dollars to support the program, from buying instruments and performance costumes to financing trips, like the one planned to Redding.

"It costs $750 worth of sheet music for just one performance," she says. "Then we need to buy more music for the next performance."

Eaman's seventh-grade Willow Glen Middle School daughter, Sarah, is in Eisenmann's show choir—where students sing and dance, wearing flashy, sequined costumes. Eaman says Sarah's become more musically inspired through her time in the choir and now she can sing and read music properly.

Like many parents, Eaman was worried when the San Jose Unified School District considered eliminating middle school electives because of the benefits students received from participating in arts programs.

"They learn to work together and work as a team," she says. "They learn that if they work hard, they can be great at something. And the self-confidence they get from performing onstage can translate into other things."

Eaman says the new vitality of the entire music program should be credited to Eisenmann, because he doesn't want a single child to be musically left behind. She says several youths who participate in the band and show choir at the middle school also wanted to sing in the chamber choir at the middle school. But the chamber choir is held during the middle school's first period, making it difficult for many students to add it to their schedule because they had a math or science class at that time that is required curriculum.

To remedy the situation, Eisenmann donated his free time after school three days a week to students like Sarah who wanted to learn the chamber choir music. And, these students aren't the only ones staying in the choir room after hours. Many students say they just like hanging out in the choir room because it is a welcoming, comfortable place to be.

Senior Eric Truong is new to the high school this year. He says before joining the choir, he didn't like to be at school. Now, he is excited to come and sing. Another senior, Jenny Dang, says she used to spend nearly eight hours a day in the choir room, but she has cut back on her time, down to about six hours each day.

"It's a hangout spot," she says. "Singing and being here is an outlet for many kids. It's nice to be able to relax and let out some stress."

Jazz choir student Cassie Alvarado says she likes the choir because the focus is on more than singing. "It doesn't matter how good you sing," she says. "He works with everyone until they get it."

Alvarado says she still remembers walking into her first day of choir class, with no idea what to expect. Almost immediately, she was called upon by Eisenmann to scat—a way of singing in which meaningless syllables are improvised, often imitating sounds of a musical instrument.

"I was kind of a nervous wreck that day," she says.

But all students in Eisenmann's classes quickly get used to the spotlight, because he requires every student to perform a solo in a performance during the school year.

It is just another technique that Eisenmann employs to prepare students for the spontaneity they will encounter outside of school and in life.

As for his classroom environment, he only has a couple steadfast rules for his students: Be nice to each other and show up to class ready to learn.

"I want to help students find out how they fit into the bigger picture," he says. "But while they are here, I want this to be like a holy space for them. This is like the church of music. What happens inside these four walls is special."