Music teacher and NSD music coordinator Charlie Fix (he/him) didn’t expect to end up in the field of education. However, after realizing that his favorite part of high school was music, Fix eventually got his first job as a band director at a school in Iowa — a stark contrast to his initial plan to become a civil engineer. He now teaches concert band, wind ensemble and occasionally orchestra.

Fix said that as a music teacher, no two days are ever the same. At its core, most of his work focuses on helping students to develop a piece of music from the rough sight reading stage to performance stage, which takes weeks of rehearsal time both in and out of the classroom. In his role as music coordinator for NSD, he mentors younger teachers, manages the district music instrument inventory and helps develop budgets and initiatives to improve current music programs.

“Our district, for a long time, has been a great supporter of music programs, and having a music coordinator allows there to be a subject matter expert like myself to really help teachers feel supported and help them work around some things that are unique to music, whether it’s planning festival field trips or dealing with inventory of instruments or equipment that are specific to music,” Fix said.

Fix teaches ensemble music, which means his students must constantly communicate, listen and match their music with each other to perform well. Similarly, Fix said that he takes a collaborative approach to teaching. Although he may have a vision for a piece and it would be easy to directly tell his students how to play it, that wouldn’t serve the educational value of music.

“I’ll dictate sometimes what things will happen, but many other times, I’ll ask students how they feel about a certain interpretation or what they think they need to do to accomplish a certain task,” Fix said. “And nine times out of 10, they are spot on, and if their opinion differs from mine, there’s nothing wrong with that.”

Fix said that one lesson all musicians should learn is that they are never masters of their craft. There are always opportunities to learn, grow and develop.

“And that’s especially true in music because there’s really no such thing as a perfect performance or a perfect piece of music,” Fix said. “So it’s really gratifying to be able to relate to students in that way, to show them that I’m an imperfect musician, and I make mistakes and I’m growing. And so we’re all going along that journey together.”

Fix tries very hard to foster an environment where students can thrive creatively. He added that finding meaningful experiences for students is one of his favorite parts of his job.

“One of the things that I really hope that students take away is a lifelong appreciation for music, love of music, but also the vision that they can continue to be a music creator or performer throughout their entire lives,” Fix said. “Nothing makes me more happy than to hear from a former student who is engaged in music-making in some way, whether it’s playing in a college orchestra or band, or joining a community ensemble or deciding to take on something beyond that.”

In the future, Fix said that he aims to grow Inglemoor’s music program, which he described as already comprehensive. He welcomes students to join the ensembles — band, orchestra or choir — but also encourages beginner-level students to join classes like music production, piano lab and guitar.

“(Inglemoor is) a school that students can thrive, really, no matter their interest area,” Fix said. “And there’s really opportunities for everybody. And of course, I’m a music teacher, and I’m passionate about music, but I want everybody to find their thing that is their passion, and if it’s music, we’ve got a place for you here and if it’s something else, we’ve got it here.”

Music teacher Bruce Wilson’s (he/him) career as a professional musician abruptly ended during the COVID-19 pandemic. He had been performing at the Fifth Avenue Theatre, Paramount and similar venues since 1982, and he taught part-time intermittently at Inglemoor. Although he previously did not see himself as an orchestra or band teacher, Wilson has taught at Inglemoor for eight years now.

“Here I get to be the conductor and decide what the tempo is going to be — what all the musical decisions are. I get to do that now, which was a whole world I didn’t have before,” Wilson said. “I love being able to do that.”

Wilson said that, in contrast with his previous experiences, working at a high school is much more positive and fun. As the conductor, he enjoys having the freedom to change the musical details of a piece.

“I also love being able to bring all my past experience to the students here and say, ‘Hey, when I was doing that, sitting in that chair right there, this is how it was done,’” Wilson said.

Ensembles are separated into higher and lower sections based on grade and skill level. One of his greatest challenges has been accommodating the range of students’ skills. Wilson also said the transition from highly-skilled seniors to freshmen who recently switched to a new instrument is an abrupt change.

“(I’m) balancing between the students that really need the extra help and also not being boring for the students that know what they’re doing, and that’s the challenge,” Wilson said.

In contrast to a traditional academic class, Wilson said that his classes are always goal-oriented — picking out pieces and fine-tuning them for concerts or festivals. He said it’s always fulfilling to have hard work rewarded by an enthusiastic audience and high ratings.

“Anytime we have a concert in the concert hall, that’s super fun to conduct in there. And that brings me a lot of joy,” Wilson said. “And then when we go to festivals and do really well there, that’s always satisfying.”

Wilson said he hopes that from his classes, students learn to really enjoy music. He also hopes that students learn to read and play music without his instruction and to keep playing music as adults.

“Some small number of students will go on to be professional musicians, or a lot of people play in community bands or orchestras, so I’m always hoping that they’ll enjoy what they’re doing, but that they keep going in some manner,” Wilson said.