Bio

There is a terrible movie I love called Tin Cup starring Kevin Costner, where our downtrodden hero, a golfer, finds himself on the final hole of the U S Open with a chance to win. He attempts an impossible shot over a lake, only to watch his ball careen off the green and into the water. So he takes another ball, and then another, until he is down to his last one. He swings, and this time, the ball lands on the green and rolls into the cup.  

Let me be clear, I never want to sink my choir into a pond.  But I also never want to lay up. When I can, because I can, I go for it.

If I were being kind to myself, I would say it is because I have a curious mind, always eager to explore every corner of the magical, ever growing language of music. If I were being unkind, I would say it is because I am easily distracted. But that is how I am built.

What going for it means to me is programming adventurously, not only in the music itself but through dance, video, movement, and collaboration. It means creating a music program where students can sing in TTBB and SSAA ensembles, direct themselves in small groups, and even build their own ensembles from the ground up. Going for it means commissioning new music when I can, and also looking to the past, to the masterworks of Bach, Brahms, and Mozart. It means creating opportunities for students to grow, through vocal recitals, visits from the best guest conductors and clinicians, sending our choirs to CMEA festivals, and traveling to perform for audiences around the world. Going for it also means giving students the freedom to fail, so they can find deeper meaning not only in the music but in their own lives. I was given that opportunity by Joseph Huszti, and I want to give the same opportunity to my students.

Now in my twenty-seventh year of teaching and directing choirs, when I listen to ensembles, I want to hear the music happen on stage. I want to see the conductor connect with the singers, that living, breathing moment when sound becomes communication. I want that for myself and my students.  It’s rare when it happens, it can hurt when it doesn’t happen but when does…oh wow.  

My favorite musical performances, whether it is Bruce Rogers blending movement and the most demanding music any choral group can sing, or William Denning’s USC Chamber Singers performing Bach and William Dawson as if they were contemporaries, they have one thing in common. They feel alive. All I want is to give my students that same feeling, every day. I hope I can, I hope I will, carry the water and sink the shot.  

-Michael Najar