Ep. 165 - Building upon Traditions in a New Choral Position - Bella Garcia y Lauer

“My predecessor is very, very well-known, an amazing choral director, and he’s still in the area. I’m trying to establish myself as the new director following such a well-loved choral director. My colleagues and he himself set me up really well for that. How do I establish myself as somebody who knows what they’re doing and wants to honor what’s important to the community? I’m adjusting to traditions, learning to very gracefully sunset other traditions without ruffling too many feathers.”Bella Garcia y Lauer is about to start her 3rd year of teaching 8-12 grade choir at Curtis High School and Curtis Junior High School in University Place, and her 5th year of teaching. Born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico, she transplanted to Washington after graduating high school, and earned her Master in Teaching from Whitworth University after studying vocal performance and music education at Eastern Washington University. She is active in serving her local professional organizations in many different roles and currently works as a WMEA All State Honor Choirs group manager, is the Reading Session Coordinator for the Washington ACDA Board, and has served on the WA-ACDA Diversity Initiatives Committee since 2022. She is passionate about cultivating a strong and supportive choral culture in her program that broadens equity and opportunity for her students, and inspiring her students to love music and collaborative singing as a way to connect with each other and grow.To get in touch with Bella, you can email her at [email protected] or find her on Facebook (@bellawuskii).Email [email protected] to contact our hosts.Podcast music from Podcast.coPhoto in episode artwork by Trace Hudson