Mr. Ziegler’s Opus

| OSP

Mr. Stephen Ziegler, award winning choir director.

Q:  Please state your name and occupation at North.

A: Stephen Ziegler, Vocal Music teacher

Q: Okay, could you go into detail the work you have put into jazz since you have been involved with North’s choir program?

A: So, the jazz choir began with the school in ‘97. I was a student here from 2004 to 2007 and was in the jazz choir during that time. Then, when I came back to work here, obviously there had been a rich tradition of vocal jazz at this school. The previous director was highly accomplished and well known, and jazz choir was a big part of that so coming in there was a big expectation of a high level of work; and also a history of that already happening at the school. So I had my experience as a student, and then what I had studied of vocal jazz throughout my college years. And it’s just something I’m passionate about and has been something that we have kept up from year to year. It’s very important to the students, and those that get to hear the jazz choir perform which they perform all over and in a lot of different places. People kind of catch the passion of that and then want to be a part of it, and join choir. They get to work to that level and so that’s kind of how we keep the work going from year to year. 

Q: Recently, jazz choir applied to OMEA and got accepted. What is OMEA?

A: OMEA stands for Oklahoma Music Educators Association. And that is a national organization that has a slightly different name, National Association for Music Educators. We just have a different arrangement of that for our state. But that’s all music teachers, all disciplines, all age levels from early childhood through higher education, all community choirs, all church choirs, and there’s a state conference every year that happens in Tulsa. And there are all state organizations that are part of that. Kids can audition to be in the All-State mixed choir or the All-State women ensemble, jazz band, etc. Additionally, individual programs at schools or community organizations can submit recordings of their groups in certain categories, then a committee of people listen to those and give ratings, and decide if they could be selected to perform at the conference for all the attendees. Jazz choir got selected this year for that. It’s been a year long process, I found out in July and immediately started thinking of music. Thought of how we would prepare when we would perform music and put together our full set. And it’s been a lot of fun. 

Q: For our jazz choir specifically, how much work do you think was put into preparing for OMEA?

A: A lot! When you are given the opportunity for an event like that, you just make it the focus of what we were already doing. We’re performing a little more music than we would have, but we just made sure that it was going to work for that program and then found places for those pieces in our other concerts. Then, you just work a little bit at a time. It’s something you can’t just prepare for all at once. So, it took a lot of work, and then you have to consider the general preparation that the students and myself had done prior to even being in the choir. Just with our ability to read music and sing with the right technique. Many of the singers had been in jazz choir before so that is part of the preparation before we start this specific process leading to the concert. So I mean, it’s a lot of work but it’s worth it. 

Q: As the director, can you tell whether your students are excited or not for this opportunity?

A: Yeah, I think so. I mean I’m a big believer that, to a certain extent, if I’m passionate about it, knowledgeable, and show that I’m taking the time to prepare every day for class they can kind of understand that it’s a big deal. I can’t control what students think or feel, but for this event I think how I feel is contagious. And it’s something that the students have not done before and won’t do again while they’re in high school. And then the attention paid by other people, by our whole district, in special ways that we haven’t done for any other performance. So I think so, yeah. And I mean the passion with which the choir is performing our music tells me that it’s important to them. Even if it’s only because they like the music, and that’s all I would hope for, it doesn’t matter who the audience is. 

Q: Are you excited?

A: So, I will say this is the first group that I have had as a director be selected for this conference; But I actually at all of my levels of education from high school and throughout college, was in choirs that were selected and performed. I’ve accompanied a company that had been selected to perform. My wife has had a group. I’ve been in and around this process and understanding the importance of it and feeling it myself being a performer in those situations. Now, it’s where I’m the director, which is a whole other thing. But I’ve known and understood how important it is. How cool it is, and what a unique opportunity. And so, I mean the excitement was built in for me, even just knowing we had a chance. Like, deciding to submit recordings from last year’s group, which was great, and knowing that we at least had a respectable chance at being selected and then we were…I’m very excited.

Q: Do you think that the jazz choir is getting enough recognition from people who are not involved with the fine arts programs?

A: I think it’s hard to truly understand, unless they read your article, they’re friends with a choir student, you talk about it to them on multiple levels, or they’ve come to our performances. It’s built into our culture because the visibility of sports. You know like, ‘Oh if you’re playing in the basketball state championship’, we just understand that’s a big deal, right? And that’s great. I mean that is what I equate this to, like we are playing in the state championship for jazz. You know, if you say it that way, people might go ‘Oh wow. That’s great, congrats’, but because the music is its own thing, and understanding what it takes to create that is a different thing. So I think that maybe stands in the way and what I’ve come to realize is, as little time as I have for the promotion of what we do, it’s down to me. To try to educate people and get the word out and make sure teachers and administrators know the importance of it. There’s a pretty good amount of awareness, it could be better. 

Mr. Ziegler started his relationship with jazz choir as a student in North over 15 years ago.  His dedication to the program, his high standards, and his substantial experience have afforded the jazz choir a top award for the state of Oklahoma.