Nick Mayes is the director of the Choir and Musical departments. He shares some insight into the future of the Arts at JA.
Q: To get started, what is your personal relationship with music, and what got you into music and teaching in the first place?
A: Oh, boy. That’s a big question. I always knew I wanted to go into education somehow. And I also knew that music was really, really important to me. And it seemed like something that just seemed like something I had to have in my life. So I wanted to be able to combine them, be a music teacher. I think when I was growing up, I just grew up in a very, it wasn’t a household where a lot of people knew how to write music and stuff, but there was music always going on. And there was always music in the car. And we were singing constantly. And my extended family, especially for birthdays and celebrations, there was a part of every single one of our Christmas celebrations where we would all sing in four parts. And we would just sing carols and stuff. And you’d make up your own harmonies. So I think that had a big impression on me growing up. And I also just really loved lots of different music. I grew obsessed with The Beatles. And I grew obsessed with Green Day and Radiohead and Coldplay. And yeah, I was in bands. I did opera. I did musical theater. I just wanted to do every single thing. I did dance. And I just loved music so much. And I still do, even now.
Q: How are you feeling about the future of the musical and the arts department?
A: Oh my gosh. I’ve never been so, I mean, I’ve always been very positive about what our outlook is. But I think now we have such a good trajectory. I mean, if we talk about numbers, there’s a lot more people enrolled. We used to have, especially at the junior high, we’ve added choirs. We’ve had successes in a lot of ways. Like last year, our successes at the Marquee Awards was just kind of the capstone of what we’ve been working on for a long time with musical. So I just think right now we have this sort of upward trajectory of just really doing some excellent things and making some beautiful music and great shows. Yeah, it’s very positive.
Q: Are there any new developments or upcoming things you’d like to share with the district?
A: Yes, so we have a few things. So with the arts, it’s really essential that we raise funds to be able to do what we do. So we have several events that are coming up. The first is our mattress sale, which is Saturday, September 27th. So if you want to support the program in any way, come out to the mattress sale. You could buy a pillow, and it goes towards us. They have beanbag chairs, sheets. They don’t just have beds. We have to fundraise a lot because we do a lot of things. So it helps a lot. I’d also say JAM Fest is coming up. That’s November. It is going to be a kind of Halloween, autumn-themed festival. We’re going to be incorporating some sort of Halloween stuff, maybe some sort of trunk or treat. There are food trucks that are there. There’s performances. It’s a really fun time. So yeah, and we’re going to try, I hope to do a pumpkin contest this year to get that rolling.
Q: Would you ever consider adding more plays in the year or adding more other things?
A: I would say not currently because now I myself am maxed out. I’ve reached the point- and I’m very positive about it- but I’ve reached the point personally and professionally where I cannot add anything else to my plate. So, I would love to see the program extend. But if there is any extension, that’s going to happen with the program, it’s going to need to see more, probably an additional staff person to take over those things.
Q: How do you tend to pick music for your choirs?
A: Oh my gosh. There’s a pile that sits next to my desk. It’s right here, actually. There’s about pieces in it. And when I have a second, I scour, and I look for things that are interesting. And I take people’s interests into it as well. The key is to find the sweet spot between what people like and what people already know. You just try to find well-written stuff, because what I found is we could do a song that everybody knows, but sometimes when we do that song, they hate it afterwards because it’s like, oh, we ruined that song by doing a choir version of it. Whereas if I find just a really good version of a song, most of the time it’s going to be more loved than a song everyone knew. So we’re singing a song in treble choir called “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow,” which is a song that was sung by the Shirelles in the 50s and 60s. Almost no one knew that song, but we’re jamming. We love this song right now because it’s similar to stuff that we would like, but it’s well-written enough to where it’s pleasing to sing it, and it doesn’t ruin it. So there’s a lot that goes into it. You also need to think about, what type of music do you want to teach people? Are you teaching too much of one type of music? There’s so much that goes into it. I just look for really interesting things.
Q: So to round this all out, what do you think would be your message to freshmen or anyone that kind of stumbles across this article who might be interested in joining the musical arts department?
A: I think performing arts is one of the most important things you can do in your life because it teaches you so many skills that stay with you for a very long time. It teaches you to have a presence. It also teaches you to overcome performance anxiety, being able to go up and speak and being able to do a lot of things. Those are important life skills. And also, music’s one of those things that everybody loves. Who doesn’t love music? There might be people who love it a little more than others, but everyone loves music. So why not learn and have music be a part of your day every single day? I know I have seniors who have chosen to be in this program every single day of their time with me, and it’s been six years. They want music a part of their day. And I’ll tell you what, a lot of those people don’t regret it. And when they go to graduation, they say the best part of my day and my year is always choir class or musical or band, anything like that. You don’t need to be musical to do it. It’s just like any other skill.
