Category Archives: Uncategorized

Updates in this Weird Time

Hello, music students! I hope you and your families are doing well. I was really looking forward to seeing you all in March (at the Clackamas Jazz Festival, the band trip to the symphony, and the Metro Festival) and I was looking forward to being back from maternity leave in April, but things sure have changed.

Mr. Wood and I have worked on some ideas for you to stay engaged with music in your time at home, and those will soon be available with the rest of your supplemental learning materials.

When I’m back on April 16, I’ll start working on more ways for us to connect with each other. I miss you!

-Mrs. Kappeler

Maternity Leave and Music Calendar Updates

Mrs. Kappeler is on maternity leave! The Kappelers were chosen to adopt a baby just a couple of weeks before his due date. Baby Zeke was born on Friday, and he’s perfect.

Alan Wood will be stepping in as a long-term substitute from January through April 15, at which point Mrs. Kappeler will be back. In the meantime, Mr. McReynolds has come to the rescue to get us through December, including the December 18 band concert!

There will be a few changes to the music calendar to make our performances flow better with the change in teachers:

1) Coffeehouse Night has been moved from January 23 to May 18
2) The spring concert has been moved from May 18 to April 15

Families, please look for a note home in early January introducing you to Mr. Wood and outlining the new music calendar. The complete music calendar on this site has been updated with the changes.

U of O Choir Concert

McKenzie, Zoe, a proud teacher, Kelby, Grey, and Sarah!

The U of O Winter Concert was a reunion of EHS choir students past and present! The Kelby cheering section was in full force. Congrats on a fantastic concert, Kelby.

Alums Lauren and Amanda also had their concert at LCC this week, which unfortunately conflicted with the Tree Lighting Ceremony. But we were there cheering in spirit!

Willamette Valley Collaborative Choral Festival


Above: Gene Chin and Siri Vik convince our students to do moose imitations while they find their best resonance.

The choirs traveled to LCC on Friday to participate in the first ever Willamette Valley Collaborative Choral Festival. We performed, had a fun collaborative session with Pleasant Hill’s choir, watched other performances, had a fantastic clinic with Dr. Brunckan from U of O, and participated in a vocal technique clinic (see above).

We are looking forward to returning to this event next Fall!

Falcon Tones Visit Churchill

We are enjoying having a jazz choir at Elmira! These ten kids (above left)  have been bravely venturing into the world of vocal jazz. We recently visited Churchill High School (above right) to sit in on a rehearsal of their award-winning jazz choir. We were more than a little bit intimidated, but we left with new ideas and inspiration. The Falcon Tones will make their jazz debut on December 11!

Ready for the new year

The EHS Music Department has big plans for this year! Here are some things we are excited about:

  1.  Last Fall, Olivia Johnson at FRMS acquired a large grant to help our district’s music program. We were able to fix and upgrade many instruments, purchase some new items, and finally install shelving in our percussion closet to organize it all! Between this gift and the gift of new choir robes the previous year (thank you, Kiwanis and Mid-Lane Cares!), we have what we need to grow our program and be proud of our music room.
  2. The Eugene Symphony received a large grant this year chose Elmira High School and Fern Ridge Middle School to be two of their six recipients! The symphony will be sending professional musicians from the orchestra into our music rooms for 20 visits this year AND 20 visits next year! We will have five different musicians come for four visits each to lead sectionals with our band students. They will focus on overall technique aspects like tone, intonation, and articulation, as well as information like how to practice effectively. They will also be gifting us with books to use in these sectionals and for students to use in their practice.
  3.  Pep band is coming! Our band program has now been back in the district for five years, and the high school band is ready to make some noise at a football game. We will start by appearing just at the homecoming game this October 18, and then we will evaluate together with students and families how many games we would like to commit to in the future.
  4. The Falcon Tones have returned! In the 1980’s, Elmira High School had a jazz choir called the Falcon Tones. The Tones are making a comeback this year with 10 fantastic students. Stay tuned to hear more about their adventures in learning about jazz singing this year.

Summer congratulations

Several EHS music students had musical summers! Congratulations to:

Maisen Heide, Jennifer Jackson, Makayla Vaughn, Aubrey Erb, Sarah Alexander, Tessa Bamer, Cindy Buchanan, Jackson Dube, Linzee Castaneda, Trinity Vandever, and Brittany Steinbach for singing backup to Garth Brooks! We were not allowed to publicize their involvement in the Garth Brooks Choir until after the performance, but we know that many community members attended that concert and had a chance to witness the incredible participation of the choir.

Kelby Alloway for acting as an intern in the Picfest choral festival, and then singing in the Oregon Bach Festival’s Youth Choral Academy! These are both huge honors and we are so glad that Kelby was able to do participate in them.

Lauren Moore for performing in Urinetown at Actor’s Cabaret of Eugene! We look forward to seeing Lauren in more shows.

Who else did something musical this summer???

Avi Kaplan Honor Choir

Congratulations to Lauren Moore, Tessa Bamer, Kelby Alloway, Benson Kilmer, Brittany Steinbach, Jackson Dube, Erick Schmidt, and Zoe Wenham for their participation in the Avi Kaplan Honor Choir at McNary High School on April 25 and 26! They worked hard for two long days of rehearsals and then performed with Avi. They were more than a little bit star-struck.