Article by Kayla Rhoadarmer

Harmony Beyond te Notes

Mountain View Choir

By Kayla Rhoadarmer

As the bell rings at 8:30 each morning, students shuffe around Mountain View High School to get to their classes. Those who walk into the cafeteria have a unique opportunity to start their day off with music. Inside this space, the walls are lined with student portraits, positive mottos, and notes. As these students settle in, the four walls of the previous lunch room become a venue for creativity, exploration, and connection. Mountain View’s seasoned choir director, Jill Denny, has exemplifed these ideals for over 27 years, igniting the spark for musical appreciation in hundreds of students each semester.

At the start of each class period, students fnd their places on the risers and begin their vocal warmups. Jill soon joins them and helps to strengthen the tone of the choirs by providing helpful feedback. Phrases such as “Imagine there is a pear in your mouth” fy around the room. To a non-singer, this may sound like a silly request, but its purpose is to open the vocal cords and allow students to channel their voices into a harmonious sound. Once everyone is warmed up, the choir breaks up into sections based on their vocal range, with student leaders

helping others understand the music. One of Jill’s most popular values is how “Every Voice Counts”, whether it be from the loudest singers to those who prefer to be quieter. She emphasizes over and over the unique qualities of each student and how their impact can shape the choir into a special place. Despite not having a concrete classroom this school year, Jill Denny has made choir into a home for so many students. Her dedication to the program allows all her students to feel her support from anywhere as she nurtures not only voices but hearts. When asked about being moved to the cafeteria for classes, she states “Choir is about the people, so you can put us anywhere. We don’t really have to be in a room.” Instead of working on essays, learning equations, or memorizing dates, Jill Denny takes on a creative approach to learning. In the Bay Area, so much pressure is put on young teenagers to succeed academically, and choir is a breath of fresh air and a channel for personal expression. For the frst time, students are given a spotlight for their voices to be heard.

Denny advocates for choir as a mental health boost for her students and states, “It’s really feeding their whole, you know, it’s less about their own self-worth, but what they contribute to others.” In addition to her support during class time, she opens the space to students during the lunch period. While some choose to practice their music during that time, many just want a place to relax and strengthen their bonds with classmates.

end in the woods. Excitement builds as they approach the YMCA Camp Cambell grounds, truly immersing themselves in the nature that surrounds them. Once they unpack their bags, they head off to rehearsals where they practice different pieces that they will be singing for their upcoming concerts. For the Madrigals, this means leaving a day earlier to ensure valuable practice time with their busy December holiday concert schedules. Despite formal rehearsals ending before dinnertime, the singing continues well into the evening. With skits, open mics, and cabin sing-a-longs, the hills are soon flled with the sound of music.

“Every Voice Counts”

BUILDING A COMMUNITY AT MVHS

At the core of Mountain View’s choir program is Jill Denny’s love for the arts. Throughout her entire life, she has pursued the value of music in fostering a community.

Her love for music blossomed at a young age as her mother taught music and her father was a band teacher. Jill was inspired by her high school choir teacher, Jack Lindsay, to continue down the musical pathway and transform it into a career. Mr. Lindsay was also a great contributor to the MVHS music program and helped to form the Madrigals singing group.

A choir divided cannot stand. The essence of the choir program comes from the strong bonds between classmates, starting as soon as the singers have been placed into groups. Later on in the semester, they have an opportunity to go on a retreat. On an early Friday morning, students pack clothes, music sheets, and cough drops to prepare for a week-

As the weekend continue, students are able to bond with those from all different choirs, whether it be the acapella groups, concert choir, Volare, or Madrigals. Jill Denny hopes to highlight that although people may come from different backgrounds, there is such great value in interacting with others and building new friendships. With the weekend coming to an end, parents drive up into the mountains to hear their children perform what they have been working on. Jill Denny makes sure to emphasize that these students are still learning and fguring out the music and that if it doesn’t sound perfect, it is okay. By instilling a sense of growth mindset, the choir is able to focus more on coming together as a group, instead of nitpicking every detail. As the students pack up, goodbyes are exchanged and students leave with new friendships, a sore throat, and a greater appreciation for music.

SPREADING HOLIDAY CHEER

Right after Thanksgiving break comes the holiday season. For many, this means putting up a tree or celebrating cultural festivities but for the Madrigal choir, this means a 40+ show schedule to be completed in a month. Mihir Malra, a fourth-year choir student, is currently in Madrigals which is the highest level of choir at MVHS. Every year around the holiday season, Madrigal students dress up in their choir attire to spread joy around communities through song. The Madrigals perform in many popular spaces such as in downtown Mountain View and Los Altos, restaurants, retirement communities, schools, and churches. Although it may be stressful, Mihir highly cherishes his time spent with the choir and states, “There are few groups on campus that I have this degree of bond with.” The power of song that these students bring to people

Soprano

Jill Denny with her husband

Dave Denny

has shown signifcant benefts. The National Alliance on Mental Illness shares that, “Music can have a positive, immediate impact on our mental state; fast tempos can psychologically and physiologically arouse us, helping energize us for the day. Slower, meditative tunes can help us to relax and lower our stress levels.” (Fuentes, P2) Though the thought of 40 concerts might sound overwhelming each of these concerts can be so impactful for their audiences.

The December season comes to a close at the Winter Concert, held at the First United Methodist Church of Palo Alto each year. With a sold-out show, parents are seen lining[a] up outside the church doors hours before the show begins to grab the perfect viewing spot. The performances are flled with traditional carols, cultural songs, and funny interpretations of fan favorites. At the end comes the most magical moment of all. Jill Denny begins to speak about how she cherishes all of her students, current and past. As she is making this speech, alumni know it’s their cue to make their way to the stage and join the choirs as one to perform songs together. Even years after being away from MVHS choir, they hop right into the song just as they had never left. Seeing the smiles on their faces as they reconnect with the community that they had poured their hearts and souls into is a tradition that never grows old.

CHOIR AROUND THE WORLD

This growing community that Jill has built doesn’t only lie here in the Bay Area, it resonates beyond the borders of all the other countries that choir visits yearly. During the second semester, the Volare, Acapella, and Madrigal choirs are given the opportunity to travel to a new place. Instead of going to a local singing competition, Jill Denny hopes to share the importance of diversity in music with her students. When asked about her choice to go international, she states, “If you want to come to the true knowledge that you’re just one part of a bigger whole, then you have to go out in the world and experience that. So we go to different places around the world and we go there not to say like, ‘Here we are, look what we can do!’ but we go there to say like, ‘Hey, what great things are happening here? What can we learn from you? What can we bring back and embrace in our own culture?’” These one-in-a-lifetime experiences will stay with students as the years go by, building a foundation for their cultural appreciation.

Meera Mathew, a junior in the choir program, shares how tours aren’t “just a sharing of our music but an exhange of love and connection that we make.”

Yes, the students are enjoying a fun vacation but they also have a purpose. These trips are flled with interactions and for the students to be immersed in new cultures creating new connections and memories. Despite any language,

culture, or age barriers when meeting people around the world, choir is able to communicate through the shared language of music through emotions while they sing. Jill says, “We have music as a tool for this bigger thing of raising citizens to care about each other.” Spreading kindness around the world through song helps create a feeling of unity that trails back to Jill’s message that, “Every Voice Counts”. Through her everyday lessons, she hopes to emphasize that there is a role for everyone in choir and every voice is valuable.

LASTING IMPACTS

When thinking about the legacy she wants to leave with the Mountain View community, she says, “I hope to make an impact on the people that are right here with me. So at least when they leave here, they’re also continuing to look for the good in other people and see what they can contribute to help others in the community.” Choir itself has proven to hold a special place in people’s lives. Whether it be within the classroom, to the local Bay Area community, or around the world, Jill Denny has flled these spaces with a love and appreciation for music. Her dedication to the program has touched so many students and will continue to blossom over the years to come.

DEDICATION

ooI would like to dedicate this article to the whole choir community for giving me many core memories and laughter. Though I am no longer in choir I am endlessly grateful for all the friendships that I’ve made. The amount of support and love in the choir community made it one hard to leave and one that I do miss often. Choir has been with me for 11 years and it still holds a special place in my heart.

To my parents and sister, thank you for always being there and cheering me on from the audience.

To Concert Choir and Volare, thank you to everyone who made me feel I belonged and added to my energy in class.

To Fran, thank you for making me feel more comfortable while traveling and checking up on me.

To Michael who always brings his positive self to class. And of course, to Jill for fostering this beautiful community and giving a once-in-a-lifetime experience to all of choir.

May the Music Never End

About te Autor

Kayla Rhoadarmer is a Junior at Frestyle Academy studying Film. Outside of school, you can fnd Kayla with the Varsity Cheerleading team and the Lacrosse team, or at the front desk of YMCA. In addition, Kayla loves to interact with children and babysit on the weekends. Kayla chose to write this article to honor the community that Choir fostered in the past 11 years. Singing and making music is still dear to her heart. She hopes to go into marketing psychology and enjoy the warm weathe. Kayla would like to thank Freestyle for the amazing opportunities and experiences.

Greg Gilpin

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Tenor

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Alto

Tenor Bass