Jessica Nicholson Puts the Cool in Chorus

By Jim Welte

 

MILL VALLEY, CA — When Jessica Nicholson began creating a choral music program in the Mill Valley School District in 2000, she had two related but distinct challenges.  The first was a simple question with a not-so-simple answer: What’s choral music?

“It’s a vocal ensemble, a team activity where you learn a variety of repertoire of different musical styles, where you get musical instruction as part of a group and then you get a chance to perform outside of school,” Nicholson explains, summarizing her “elevator pitch.” She’s given that pitch countless times over the years as she’s built the district’s choral music program from scratch into a juggernaut that includes some 450 students.