This year, Northern Valley Demarest gained a new addition to the staff, Meghan Magnus, the new choir director.
Throughout her whole life, Magnus has been a huge fan of music and always felt a strong pull towards the subject. However, her introduction to choir was due to a schedule error in her high school.
“I was meant to take band and was scheduled for choir instead. By the time I was able to fix my schedule, I ended up loving this idea of singing in a group setting and ended up taking both for all four years,” Magnus said.
Magnus’ high school choir teacher was a big inspiration for her throughout her career. She enjoyed her high school choir class so much, she knew she wanted to continue it in college.
“[I went to the] University of Delaware – twice! [Once] for my undergrad, and then went back for my masters a few years later,” Magnus said.
While her first career was a music teaching career, Magnus had to pick up a few creative odd jobs working on her degrees.
“While I worked on undergrad and my Masters I worked in every aspect of the admissions office at UD from touring to filing, and phone calls to even interviewing prospective students. In the early part of my career I would spend my summers working for a semi-professional choir in the South of France doing all of their media and promotions which allowed me to travel!” she said.
Though Magnus just started as a choir teacher in NVD, she acted as the vocal music director for last spring’s school musical, “Freaky Friday.”
“I snuck in last year, so it’s been a very easy transition, since I got to know most of the students in the Performing Arts department last year,” Magnus said.
Along with being part of choir all throughout high school and college, Magnus has spent many years teaching choir in many different schools.
“This is my 10th year teaching, and I’ve taught in several states, Virginia, Delaware, and all over New Jersey!” Magnus said.
Magnus loved joining the NVD family and has been welcomed with open arms. She loves working with NVD’s musical students as well as teaching alongside her colleagues. “[My favorite thing about working in NVD is] collaborating with my colleagues in the performing arts department: Mrs. Wheeler and Mr. Marconi,” she said.
All in all, Magnus plans to help shape NVD for the better. She recognizes what NVD lacks in singing tradition and has a goal to change that.
“In the NVD community, the tradition of singing isn’t as deeply woven into daily life or widely emphasized as it might be in other places. While there is certainly appreciation for music, active participation in singing may not always be a primary focus or cultural norm even though it is a part of our daily lives and media consumption. I am hoping to rebuild the tradition of singing together and an appreciation for it,” Magnus said.
