My Bio

Hello all,

My name is Kalyn and I am pursuing my Master of Arts in Education. My current goal is to become a high school music teacher, preferably band and orchestra but many teachers in small schools often end up teaching choir as well. I grew up in Dayton, Oregon where I started playing trombone in the fifth grade because I KNEW I could play better then my big brother, who also played trombone. He ended up dropping out of band his Junior year and I continued on to get my bachelors degree in music education. I guess I won that battle. Another reality is that as a music is a dying field, so I may have to teach junior high as well. My band director did band and choir for junior high and high school and I would like to be prepared for that situation. I would love to teach in a school with an orchestra and jazz band as well as concert band. I had never been in an orchestra before college and instantly fell in love. The style of playing is so different. Almost everything is a solo or soli and the music requires you to know about the time period to perform well. Also, we get to perform rock orchestra versions of great songs. Last year we did Eric Clapton's "Layla" with brass solos. This April, we will be playing with the band "Kansas" at the Roseland in Portland. These are things that get young people and aspiring musicians excited about playing, and in a dying field, it is the perfect way to keep it alive. 

Directing an orchestra is also a wonderful way to teach music history to students without making them feel like they are being lectured. Each piece of music and composer has a story that is relevant to the way the music needs to be played. Often times, if a musician understands why the music was written, they will feel more connected to it and be more likely to perform it the way the original composer would have wanted, but put their own personality- and personality of the conductor- into the music. I am a total nerd for music history. I have a Beethoven bobble-head on my dashboard, 2 Brahms paintings, one of which has a "greatful dead" spin on it with Brahms wearing a Hawaiian shirt and sunglasses, a Beethoven action figure, and all sorts of other dorky things that my husband is embarrassed to have around the house. 

In addition to my music, I am also interested in horsemanship. I have been riding horses most of my life and am constantly trying to improve my skills. I've raced barrels, helped with colt starting, and am currently studying equine massage at a horse rescue facility where I also volunteer. I currently do not own any of my own, but have access to the rescue horses and am leasing a horse and take lessons with him. Raised in the country, I also participated in FFA in junior high and high school. I raised and sold pigs and earned my State Degree- the highest degree you can get without being an officer. For that, I had to learn how to judge soil irrigation, know the history of agriculture in my state, the history of the FFA, at least two different types of weld, put a certain amount of money and hours into my FFA project- which was pigs- and I had to show and judge animals outside of my project. FFA, I have noticed, is also fading out. In Lane county this past summer, there was no FFA at all, and 4-H students had to show at the Benton County fair because Lane would not allow them. Hopefully, wherever I end up teaching, I can help the agricultural programs flourish. I would not have the work ethic I have without those programs. 

My time is spent between my husband, my family, my education and music, horses, and work. I took a night time position working a remodel at a Eugene Target so my work schedule would not conflict with student teaching. It's pretty challenging as far as sleep goes, but the work is good. It keeps me active and I'm quickly being recongnized for my efforts and have already trained several people. My other job is as a homeschool music teacher. I have two students whom I teach for an hour and a half each week. We have studied music in the Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical eras, and have studied Beethoven as a transitional figure in to the Romantic era. My students are also learning piano and are learning an arrangement of Beethoven's 9th (Ode to Joy) which is a great way for them to learn left and right hand independence as well as introduce them to the C Major scale. My goal is to teach them the Brahms Lullaby by summer break when we finish the Romantic Era. It is important that they play pieces relevant to the time period we are studying so they can perform the music, rather than simply playing it. 

I am very excited to be in school again and am sure that learning new technologies will create more opportunities and outlets for me to expose my students to different types of music and ways to interpret it. 

Jazz Band Clinic