Ava Wahl
This year has been ambitious for the WHS Choir: from the first Fall concert with a six-piece set, to a stunning collaboration with Choral Arts Northwest, to a Disneyland tour, the aspiring singers have barely caught a break since September.
Our choir director Mr. Mikkelson has been teaching here for as long as the class of 2023 has attended our school.
“Over the past few years I have been trying to be less ‘The Choir Director’ and more Mr. Mikkelson, who loves singing in and directing choirs, and has a sense of humor that is equal parts juvenile and dad jokes,” Mikkelson explains. “‘The Choir Director’ is sometimes a robot. Mr. Mikkelson has fun teaching because he loves music and loves his students.”
This is his final year at WHS and seniors reflect on the lasting impact this year will have.
“My favorite thing I think that happened was the first concert, honestly,” explains Lucca Gleason-Geise, Choir President. “...It was our first time singing all together, and to most people, especially for me, it’s a very memorable experience.”
They loved how Mikkelson gave them opportunities to experiment and challenge themself: “he’s really inspired me to come out of my comfort zone-- I’ve sung in at least ten different languages.”
An anonymous senior relays how choir has made “me a better musician. I don’t think I’d be going to music school if I hadn’t joined choir; it allowed me to get more technical, which is something I hadn’t considered doing in music before.”
This year, the choir performed a wide variety of songs, including the original Ukrainian “Carol of the Bells”, a collection of movements from Craig Hella Johnson’s Considering Matthew Shepard, and a slew of Disney songs for the music department trip this spring.
Senior Sadie Herring shares that her favorite song “we’ve sung this year, actually ever, is ‘Take On Me’…I’m so glad we got to do an authentic a-cappella piece.” Concert Voices performed this rendition of Aha’s 80’s hit last Thursday at the Pops Concert, a celebration with the final musical performances of the year.
“I think the one that I will remember most fondly is ‘No Time’ because of the sense of healing and closure I felt hearing that song being performed in person, on our own stage, after spending so much time with it during distance learning,” admits Mr. Mikkelson, referencing a traditional camp meeting song that he’d been wanting to perform for years. “Students, teachers, and the community as a whole went through so much collective trauma during the pandemic, and the closing lines of that song “‘cause I’m on my journey home” felt so much like we had truly come back.”
The lenience in Covid precautions allowed the choir and the entire music department to branch out and gain larger audiences. The April trip to Disney proved a memorable experience after years of quarantine.
“I really liked the Disney trip, it was really fun,” says senior Samantha Bachler, Soprano section leader. “I hung out with a pretty large group of people, we did a bunch of rides, it was really great.”
The trip was an incredible bonding experience for the choir, who formed lasting friendships and memories.
“It has been a real growing experience for me,” Lucca says. “I’ve learned that I’ve loved singing more than I ever thought I could. It’s helped me to become a more social person.”
Sadie also stresses the role choir can have in fostering relationships: “The department has impacted me…mainly with the friendships I have made…I’ve learned a lot about people who I went to elementary school and middle school with but I never really got to know them, and they ended up being some of my closest friends when they came to choir.”
As he leaves the WHS choir behind and heads towards a new future, Mikkelson is most proud of the way he’s seen his students “care for each other, showing compassion for others, physically caring for ailing members, and communicating with me behind-the-scenes to advocate and stick up for others in ways that aren’t always visible. That kind of care is radical, and makes ripples beyond our classroom.”
Although his time at WHS is coming to an end, Mikkelson’s legacy will not be forgotten.
“It is so rare that you find a teacher that has a perfect balance between professionalism and care for his students,” says Sadie, “...and Mr. Mikkelson is the perfect combination. Even when he was new it was like he’d been teaching forever.”
“Mikkelson has been there for me from the start ...even through Covid, he managed to keep choir alive, which is not an easy feat.” Samantha says. “...I’m going to miss him but I hope he can do the same thing for our program somewhere else, for someone else.”
The choir is more than just its director, and Mikkelson encourages current and aspiring members to continue doing what they love.
“With a little bit of training and effort, anyone can sing. It’s how our ancestors passed down stories. Singing is primal and an inherent attribute of being human. Don’t shut yourself off from one of life’s greatest joys.”