IssuesJune 6 - June 12, 2013

briefs Former BHUSD bond

firm scrutinized in L.A. Times Page 3
A week|y xc|0s|ve pages 8-9
briefs Planning Commision
looks to expand outreach Page 3
briefs Christiansen charges dismissed; will the
BHUSD have to repay the $6.6 million settlement? Page 2
Joel Pressman
Reflects on
38 years at
Beverly High
Beverly
Hills
Music
Man
Page 8 sBeverly Hills Weekly
BEVERLY HILLS
MUSIC MAN
Joe| Pressmao reI|ects oo 38 years at 8ever|y h|gh
8y Aodrea A|daoa
coverstory
Youre retiring after 38 years, what does
that feel like?
Theres no short answer. There are so
many highs and lows [and] so many indi-
vidual experiences with people and of events
that it is hard to imagine it all sort of stop-
ping. But it doesnt really stop because there
still are contacts. There are still connections
to the school and to the people that I dont
see stopping.
As many of our readers know, you grew
up here. Your father was prominent
rabbi at Temple Beth Am and in 1975,
you returned to Beverly High as a young
choral director. Tell us about that.
My high school teacher, [the late] Robert
Holmes, gave us a lot of opportunities to
do things. He would ask me to take over
rehearsal while he would go and take care
of some sort of business in his office, or if
he was absent and the substitute teacher was,
lets say a golf teacher, I would take over
rehearsal. When I went to college, he would
sometimes call me and say, Can you come
in and work with the choir? Im going to be
away with Madrigals or Im going to be at
a convention, so I never really broke that
connection [to the community] and it seemed
like a funny idea when he retired to apply
for the job knowing that I wouldnt get it
because I was young and just finishing my
Masters and 38 years later, here I am.
Where did you go to college?
USC. My mentor was a man named
Charles Hirt and he was also a man who
gave us lots of opportunities. He made me a
teaching assistant, had me conduct a group,
do a lot of business managing and program
developing and all kinds of experiences that
were unusual for somebody my age and that
also helped prepare me. And he had a love
of language -- a love of language in rehearsal
and a love of language in the music -- that
definitely resonated with me and encouraged
that part of me in terms of my own artistic
directing.
Can you expand on what you mean by
love of language in the music?
Singing is not just about notes. If youre
an instrumentalist, you play the notes and
there are all kinds of communication there,
but the subtleties of language go far beyond
that. This year, for example, I really looked
for pieces where the text meant something
important [and] where I thought it would
connect with the students and the audiences.
For many years now, Ive tried to approach
the performance not in terms of, how well
do we sing? But of, how well do we commu-
nicate? And some of that comes from vocal
technique, but a lot of it comes from what is
it youre trying to say? Whats the message?
Whats the feeling? Do you want them to
laugh or cry or both? Do you emphasize this
particular syllable a little bit more in order to
exploit more meaning? Its like Shakespeare.
Where the emphasis falls can tell you a lot
about what he was trying to say.
When you were first hired, there was
some resistance to hiring you because
some faculty felt you were too young?
I switched out of the music education
program at USC because I didnt feel I was
learning very much. I got my bachelors in
voice [at USC] and most of the choral con-
ducting classes, I took with the conducting
majors. I got my Masters in choral conduct-
ing and therefore I had almost everything in
the credentialed program, but I did not have
the teaching credential. At that time, they
had what was called a provisional credential
where the school district would agree to hire
you if the college would agree to give you
the credential and the college would agree to
give you the credential if the school district
agreed to hire you, so they got together and
said, We will do this with this person.
When I went to my interview, they said
the very logical question, Why should we
hire you when you dont have a teaching
credential? And I handed out multiple cop-
ies of a chart that Id made saying, This is
whats required for a teaching credential and
this is what Ive had and in most cases it
was double or triple what was required for
the teaching credential in terms of teaching
experience, coursework, [and] conducting
experience, so that pretty much quieted that.
There were two members of the perform-
ing arts department in the theater program
who were not at that interview who felt that
I should not have been hired. They wrote
letters to the Beverly Hills papers saying
that it would destroy the performing arts
department, that I wasnt qualified, [and]
that it was all political. [Superintendent] Ken
Peters had made the final decision. The com-
mittee had narrowed it down to four finalists
and he interviewed each of the four of us. It
was a fabulous interview. I dont remember
anything we said; I just remember being
blown away by how good he was in terms of
this interview. He called me and said, This
is not an attack on you. This is an attack on
me because I hired you. You just go and
teach. And thats exactly what happened.
How has choral music and music
instruction changed over the time youve
been a teacher?
When I was a student at Beverly Vista [in
the 1960s], the boys glee had over 40 boys
in it singing four part harmony. Everybody
read music. Everybody took instrumental
music lessons. Now, there are not 44 boys in
the school district singing in choruses. The
district programs are much more diverse.
The AP program has siphoned off some of
our brightest kids. I still get kids who are
taking seven or eight classes of APs, but its
not the same numbers as it used to be, so the
gene pool is smaller. There are fewer kids
to draw on that have been raised in the arts,
so that makes it harder. Plus, when I started
teaching, all four schools had a yearlong
chorus program in the middle schools. Now
some of them just have a musical in the
spring, which is great training for theater,
but does not necessarily keep their skills up
musically.
The Madrigals Singers are a nationally-
recognized program. Youve won
numerous national awards. What makes
this program special?
I dont think that we are a better program
than a lot of places. I judge choir festivals
and I hear some absolutely magnificent
choirs and some absolutely wonderful teach-
ing. I think the thing that we bring, which is
less usual, is what I said about communica-
tion. There are choirs who sing with better
pitch, better tone, better phrasing than my
choirs ever do, but after 30 seconds, you
go, okay, now what? And it is a rare choir
who really takes each piece and makes a
small drama out of it and finds that hook to
give that audience something that they can
connect with. Ive never had anyone come
up to me after a concert and say, I love the
way your sopranos lifted the soft palette on
the ah vowel, even though thats something
we spend a lot of time with. Theyll come
up and theyll say, You brought tears to
my eyes or how joyful or other things to
talk about the emotion of the piece, the con-
nection of audience and performer. Thats
something that we emphasize and I have
had judges who have heard us at numerous
festivals say, This is one of the special
things about your choir. Its not unique, but
it is rare.
Many of your students have gone on to
fame and fortune in the entertainment
industry. Do you find this fulfilling?
I will go see anything or watch anything or
rent anything if a former student is in it. Im
a huge chauvinist for [Beverly High], espe-
cially performing arts. A number of years
ago we had a board member who didnt
much care for the arts. He said, Frankly,
Im not impressed if our graduate can cor-
rectly identify Beethoven on the music while
hes cleaning the toilets at Burger King. Our
students need to be able to support a family.
They need to be able to program on the com-
puter and build a website. So I went home
and I called [drama teacher] John Ingle, my
initial colleague in my teaching, and we sat
down and off the top of our heads, we made
a list of 250 grads who were supporting
their families. Everything from the people
that youve heard of like Richard Dreyfuss
and David Schwimmer and Nicolas Cage to
people that you havent heard of, who are
doing props for Spielberg, who are writing,
who are directing, who are doing broadway
theater and composing -- theres just so
many people out there. Michael Lembeck,
who is an actor/director, said in an interview
once: he can hardly ever walk on to a set
where hes directing and not find some con-
nection to Beverly High performing arts. My
son and daughter think that its hysterical
that we sit through the credits for everything
and Ill say, Beverly grad. Thats a Beverly
grad. There are a lot of us out there.
A number of your former students have
also found success in other industries
outside of entertainment. Tell us about
that.
Ive had a lot of people say, The confi-
dence that I got by standing up and having
to sing in front of people helped me as a
teacher, as a lawyer, as a doctor, as a can-
tor, [and] that there is a direct connection
to putting yourself out there in a performing
situation. Ive also had people come up to
me and say, You are the only reason that
I stayed in school. Now, they dont really
mean me. They mean having a place to come
and make music every day. One girl came to
me and said, throwing up hurts her voice. I
said, Yes, have some yogurt and rest it for
When I was a student at Beverly Vista [in the
1960s], the boys glee had over 40 boys in it
singing four part harmony. Everybody read music.
Everybody took instrumental music lessons. Now,
there are not 44 boys in the school district singing
in choruses. The district programs are much more
diverse. -- Joel Pressman
June 6- June 12, 2013 Page 9
a couple of days, and she said, What if you
do it every day? We talked and of course,
she had anorexia or bulimia and we got
her counseling and it was because she was
concerned about her singing that she said
anything. It was that important to her. To me,
thats as important a teaching victory as a kid
who wins an award in a singing competition.
Now that youre retiring, do you know
what the plans are to fill your position?
I have not heard much. Im hoping to be
part of the process. I think I have some-
thing to offer in terms of perspective of the
program. I know there are some wonderful
teachers out there and Im hoping that we
are quick enough and smart enough to get
somebody like that.
Youve been critical of the Board of
Education in recent years. Explain.
The constant comment that Ive made
is that according to its own standards, the
California State School Boards Association
lays out the responsibilities of a school board,
individual members, and school administra-
tors. School boards are not supposed to
micromanage. Theyre supposed to set broad
policy goals and then allow their adminis-
trators to work with staff to find the best
way to achieve those goals. Recent school
boards have micromanaged to an extent Ive
never seen before. They ignore the recom-
mendations of staff way too often. We had a
school board president say at his installation,
Weve done our homework. We know what
to do. Trust us, and then proceeded to say
how individual school board members would
be responsible for enforcing this policy or
that policy and thats not their job. Ive seen
too many really good people drive off the
campus after having been fired by the school
board because they werent yes men or
yes women, and Ive seen too many people
quit because they could not do their job with
integrity. This is not universally true of all
board members, but as a general trend, over
the last 15 years or so, it is a change.
When I started, the feeling was that the
school board was honored lay people to help
do the business of running a school district.
That same Ken Peters, who was the one
who hired me, made it really clear what the
boards role was, what the superintendents
role was and what the administrations roles
were. He trained the school board into what
their proper function was and I dont mean
that he ordered them around. I meant that
what exactly is in the state standards was
what I think was much more what was hap-
pening at the time.
Tell us some colleagues and
administrators youve particularly
enjoyed working with.
Toni Staser who is my assistant principal
now -- she [oversees] the performing arts
department -- is a former music teacher, is
insanely dedicated, [and] is one of those
people that says, What can I do to help?
and not Youre doing this wrong, stop it.
Over the years, weve had many administra-
tors who have come in and said, Whats
been working for you, you can no longer do
and the reason is because we didnt do it at
my old school district. Toni has been great.
[Former Principal] Ben Bushman, I was
actually surprised. All I knew was that he
was a head football coach, and I thought,
what does he know about the rest of the
school? And he dedicated himself to that
school. If a custodian was called to clean
something up and they didnt come, he went
to a custodial closet, grabbed a broom and
cleaned up. If you called him and you had a
problem and he wasnt available, he would
show up on your doorway during the morn-
ing and say, How can I help?
I think he set a good tone for [former
Principal] Dan Stepenosky who followed
him and I complimented [Principal] Carter
Paysinger last week because he has really
opened himself up. The same way that he
was dedicated to the sports program, hes
dedicated to the entire school. I think most
people feel that he is in their corner. I think
it has been difficult for him because he is a
principal in an era where people at the dis-
trict do not want their administrators coming
up with reasons to do something different
from what the board is proposing. They
dont particularly want that much input.
Weve seen people driven out because they
did not bow down. We had a superintendent,
who I will not name, who left and just prior
to leaving said to me, I have never been in a
district with so much bullying. I said, Are
we talking about the kids? He said, No,
Im talking about parents, board members,
[and] teachers. Theres an adversary rela-
tionship that is not healthy.
I know there are people in the district who
are trying to change that, so this is not a blan-
ket indictment of everybody at the district
office because there are some tremendous,
supportive people there, but as a tone, things
still need to shift back towards something
that is more collegial. Over the years, Ive
stood up at teachers union meetings and at
board meetings and told the grownups when
I thought they were not behaving in a mature
and respectful way. Ive been bawled out by
both sides for that, but generally speaking,
I havent had to backtrack because whats
right is right and while opinions about pol-
icy may differ, the way we treat each other
shouldnt.
Are there any other colleagues youd like
to mention?
Well, there are so many. Im very fortunate
that when I do what I do, I go out in public.
Theres an audience and people applaud and
you get that kind of feedback. Theres a lot
of teachers who are here countless hours,
go home, work countless hours more -- far
beyond what theyre paid for-- and are bril-
liant teachers. Their students notice, but the
community doesnt necessarily notice. If
your kid is not in that persons class, they
may not know. There are plenty of people
who have not gotten the kind of attention
Ive gotten for retirement, and I think its
because what I do is much more public, so
Ive always tried to take the opportunity of
a bully pulpit to speak up on behalf of all
the teachers because not everybody gets the
chance to spout off like I do.
What are your plans now that youre
retiring?
To heal. My number one priority is to get
healthy and then see what Im up for like
continuing to judge choir festivals, teaching
voice lessons and traveling. I want to go to
New York and see some Broadway shows.
I want to go snorkeling. Im waiting to see
how quickly things change.
How do you want to be remembered as
part of the Beverly High faculty?
I want to be remembered as somebody
who really cared -- sometimes, too much
-- and who made a difference, whatever
that is. Whether its the relocation of the
wheelchair ramp outside of Salter Theatre,
which was going to replace the stairs -- I
interrupted the architects who were there
with their plans and said, You know theres
a theater in there. And they glared at me
and I said, Well what if you start it there
and ran it around the side of the building?
You could have your stairs and you could
also have your ramp. And they said, Its
our job, and then they did what I wanted
and Im sure took credit for it. There are
lots of little things all over the school. I like
problem solving and the kids have allowed
me to meddle and its been fun. I can think
of very few jobs where you would have the
opportunity to do as many different things
as Ive done with the technology committee
and with the facilities committee -- not that
anybody listens to the facilities committee.
We would have these long discussions and
great detail and do our research and the
school board would say, Yeah, but we want
to do this. Anyway, people are complicated.
I would hate to say I want to be remembered
in 25 words or less.
Looking back on 38 years, would you
have done anything differently in your
teaching career?
I probably would have spent more time on
the teaching and less time on all the other
committees and outside things because I
know I have not been as good at recruit-
ing as some of my colleagues and I know I
havent taught everything I would have like
to have taught, but who knows? Its one of
those, each according to his gifts. I seem to
be interested in things beyond just the music.
I told a teacher once who said, I dont care
about that. My job is to teach chemistry,
No, your job is to teach kids, and thats
how I feel. I dont know. Every day I say I
have to do something different. And every
time you have a bad day you say, what can
I do differently tomorrow? If I had any day
or year or decade to do over, I would do
something different. I had a communication
from a board member recently that said,
Teachers have forgotten how to fail. They
cover up their failures. They hide behind
their unions. And I so disagree with that.
Teachers know that they fail every day. The
difference is that you get back out of bed
and you go back in and you try something
different the next day. My students have
heard me say, My mistake, or That didnt
work, or Let me try it differently. I dont
understand why anybody would make such
a statement that were afraid to fail. Were
not necessarily allowed to, but we fail all
the time. Anybody who is paying attention
knows that, thats human beings.