Experience a Day-in-the-Life of a Teacher at Concordia Shanghai: Band Director

“Confucius said, ‘Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life!’ Welcome to my life... ”

6:00 a.m.

The alarm rouses me out of bed. My wife and son are already up and out for their morning jog. I shower and breakfast on banana, peanut butter toast and a Coke Zero.

7:15 a.m.

APAC Band rehearsal is in full swing. We will be joining the other schools in our conference for an invigorating time of music making and camaraderie. It is great to have these experiences with other schools around China and Asia!

8:00 a.m.

There’s no better way to start one’s day than with the HS Jazz Ensemble swingin’ the tunes.

10:10 a.m.

Chapel is one of the highlights of my week. At Concordia it’s a priority to gather to explore and support our faith journey.

10:30 a.m.

High School Wind Ensemble has lots to do before our upcoming concert, APAC Band Festival, AMIS Festival, and the last pep band game of the season! Go Phoenix!

11:30 a.m.

I grab a quick lunch with colleagues. It’s great to work at a school with such dedicated professionals.

2:30 p.m.

Middle School Jazz Band prepares for their concert premiere! We will play songs from all three “veins” of Jazz: Rock, Swing, and Latin. Each student will play a solo at tonight’s performance– I love seeing the growth and excitement of young musicians!

3:30 p.m.

School day officially ends. I take a moment to breathe and check in with music colleagues about tonight’s concert and my son comes by to practice piano. It’s fun to watch his growth and improvement, just like my other 120+ “kids.”

5:15 p.m.

Our family squeezes in a quick dinner to catch up. Our son is super busy, Tuesday it’s Rockin' Rhythm Ramblers, Wednesday it’s Boy Scouts, Friday swimming, and Saturday morning Griffins Basketball. There is never a shortage of things to do in our community!

6:15 p.m.

Concert “Call Time”–we warm-up and tune our instruments, check that shirt tails are tucked in, ties straight, that we have our music and head to the stage! The parental support for what we do is visible. Tonight is no exception–standing room only!

8:00 p.m.

With the middle school concert complete, the students bask in the glow of a job well done, the applause of the audience affirming their hard work and excellent performance tonight.

8:30 p.m.

Finally home for the night. We do our devotions and say bedtime prayers with our son, then I return to the living room to enjoy a celebratory toast and dessert with my music colleagues.

11:00 p.m.

One last email check before I turn in for the day. It is nice to find a note from middle school administrators saying they enjoyed the concert and asking to share their congrats with the bands. Another from a parent states how they attended tonight to hear and support their child, and left having truly enjoyed a nice musical evening and concert experience. This is music to my ears, as I always tell my students, “that’s the best compliment that you can receive as a musician!”