Chris Thompson

For me it was simple. I knew I wanted to pursue music, and music education seemed both practical and skill centered (voice, piano, conducting, social skills, leadership skills etc.)

• Churches in Manhattan - Sang and conducted
• FarmHouse Fraternity

I student taught in two terrific schools in Manhattan with the very best cooperating teachers I could imagine: Miriam Zeibert (Marlatt Elementary School) and Dan Cummerford (Manhattan High School).

Wow, so many jobs! For me, it was all about networking and having the right skills and mindset for a specific job. Sure, I worked at all sorts of odd jobs from middle school onward. But, when I started looking for work in the music field, I knew that it would be skills (sight-reading, playing, conducting etc.) that would set me apart from other applicants. When I knew what was available (church soloist, church choir director), I prepared myself fully. That also can be said for my first teaching jobs at a large community college in New Orleans (Delgado Community College) and a private Catholic girls’ school (Academy of the Sacred Heart). While completely different in terms of need, both played into strengths. I was so very fortunate to be recommended for both. It is so important to have a great attitude and listen to others. Being a gracious colleague or co-worker is not difficult. Many, many times I have been blessed with opportunities through networking and the adage of preparation meeting opportunity.

I teach private voice anywhere from 4-6 hours. I spend time coordinating the voice area (100+ voice majors): fielding calls/emails/personal visits, auditions, juries, trouble shooting, guest artists, meetings with colleagues/department head/dean. I often have very focused days that are solely about my students, and then other days I have much work beyond my teaching.

Personal connections, seeking to inspire and be inspired, living in the moment with vibrant young people, challenging myself to meet them where they are and encourage them to take a journey with me. I could go on and on!

Having enough energy for myself at the end of the day.

Prepare your skillset, be open to change, keep working on yourself so your work is relevant to you and your students.

Academic degrees and experience, professional training programs, life as a starving artist, coming to terms with what makes me happiest, striving for the very best in myself and others.

I wouldn’t say that any musician’s life is typical, but I never made any drastic career changes.

Each change/move/challenge has encouraged me to grow, search, expand, wonder, and embrace.

My current: my job is a culmination of all the things I love about my profession.

mmediately after undergraduate school I went to New Orleans to pursue a master’s degree. Needless to say, New Orleans is not Kansas! My lifestyle changed in that I experienced many, many new and exciting things that challenged me to the very core and brought me in touch with a bigger world.

Refusing to every believe that I couldn’t do something. I often knew I couldn’t do something YET, but I developed an attitude that if I wanted to do something, I would figure out how to accomplish that desire.

Excel in all, but don’t confine yourself to the parameters of your academic requirements. Look for opportunities outside your classwork to better yourself, learn something new, challenge yourself.

Singing lessons and piano lessons. These were the two areas that completely changed my life.

I had many incredible mentors who changed and challenged me for the better. Often, it was the professor who taught a class that was an extension of my core that influenced me the most. People who opened up entirely new worlds to me and/or challenged everything about myself were the ones that I still cherish.

That’s a difficult question, I learned so much.

I have so many degrees and have lived in so many places. I don’t often see many of the people who were my academic colleagues. BUT, when I do, it’s as if we pick up right where we left off.