|
|||||||||||||
Printer-Friendly
Email this Story
Post a Comment (0)
Woodson’s Pied Piper
To grab his students' attention, W.T. Woodson High School Choral Director Michael Ehrlich places a few fingers from both hands to his lips and generates a loud whistle, a skill he acquired while growing up in East Stroudsburg, Pa.
"I learned that in seventh grade, from a girl," said Ehrlich, who will celebrate his 51st birthday at the end of December. "I usually warn people who are next to me. It's pretty loud."
Ask the parents of some of the 320 students who sing in one of the six choral groups he directs and they will tell you Ehrlich, who is in his 20th year of teaching at Woodson, can command attention with something even more impressive.
"I think he gives the kids respect from the get-go, and in return, they respect him," said Mary Ann Troyano, president of Woodson's Choral Boosters board of directors.
"He gives that respect freely," said Troyano, whose daughter Allison is one of Ehrlich's choral students.
For sharing a love of music and serving as a positive leader for thousands of young people over two decades, Michael Ehrlich is The Times' Citizen of the Year for 2007.
Terry Byrne, another parent of a Woodson chorus member, heaped more praise on Ehrlich when she spoke after the performance of Woodson’s Select Vocal Ensemble with the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra on Dec. 16 at George Mason University's Center for the Arts.
"You saw the level of difficulty [mastered] by these kids," Byrne said. "He has impossible expectations for them, yet they rise to those expectations because he respects them.
"He's like the Pied Piper. These kids would follow him anywhere," she said. "It's more than teaching music, it’s about teaching character. For some of them, it's lifesaving."
Ehrlich's students give him high grades as well.
"He has so much insight. You can really learn a lot just talking with him and working with him, definitely," said junior soprano Sara Persily, of Fairfax, who worked with Ehrlich while she choreographed the school musical this past fall. Ehrlich is also music director for Woodson’s drama performances.
"He's probably the best thing that's ever happened to the performing arts here at Woodson," said senior bass Richard Smith about Ehrlich. “He's helped me become a much better singer and a much better musician because of his immense talents."
Ehrlich is more modest about his achievements and about the numerous awards he has received, which include a USA Today 2002 All-USA Teacher Team award; a Wolf Trap Performing Arts Center Scholarship for Teachers in 2004; and an outstanding service award for 2007 from the Virginia Choral Directors Association, an organization for which he currently serves as president.
The choral program Ehrlich inherited in 1988, with just 35 students, was modest as well. Now, with more than 300 singers, the Woodson choral program represents about 15 percent of the school's student population.
"The program gradually got better and better and we were continually growing, but year five seemed to be when things just locked in," Ehrlich said, noting that during a 1993 competition in Atlanta, all three of Woodson choruses participating that year took first place.
Ever since, Woodson choral groups, which include the Chorale, the Women's Concert Choir, the Select Women's Ensemble, the Men's Chorus, the Select Men's Ensemble and the Select Vocal Ensemble, have consistently received the highest of rankings and have brought home many first-place trophies from competitions.
"The first thing I try to keep in mind is it's not about the me, and it's not about trophies, and it wasn't about going to festivals and getting superior ratings. Those are the icing on the cake,” Ehrlich said. "It was about building a sense of community.
"I'm grateful to the Woodson community,” he said. "Woodson is a great place, and I feel very fortunate to be there."
Ehrlich, who also serves as chair of Woodson’s Music and Performance Arts Department, teaches by example. In part to encourage some of his more shy students to perform in front of an audience, Ehrlich himself either sings or tap dances during Woodson’s annual student musical revue show called “Dessert on Broadway,” held at the end of January.
"Last year I sang ‘Time to Remember’ from ‘The Fantasticks,’ which was perfect because it was right after my 50th birthday," he said.
To help Ehrlich celebrate the half-century mark, a few dozen of his former students attended a party for their teacher held about a year ago. According to Troyano, who was also there, at least one of those students said he became a teacher because of Ehrlich.
During the party, the Woodson choral alums sang by heart a song that concludes almost every chorus performance Ehrlich conducts -- “The Irish Blessing.” It begins with the lines: "May the road rise to meet you; May the wind be always at your back."
“They sang in perfect harmony,” Troyano said. “It was awesome.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.