“It’s different being on the other side,” says Angela DiOrio, newly-appointed teacher of choral music at Watchung Hills Regional High School.
It was not too long ago that the Class of 2005 Watchung Hills graduate was on “the other side,” a choral student under the baton of William Holmes, who began his retirement in July. That’s when DiOrio, an Ithaca College (Class of 2009) graduate, applied for the position, won the post, and now finds herself on the podium, “on the other side,” in front of some 200 vocal music students daily. Between college graduation and accepting the post at Watchung Hills, she taught at South Hunterdon High School in Lambertville, where, she says, she did everything musical…and more.
DiOrio, who still resides in Watchung with her family, was a choral music student for three years under Holmes’ baton. Her interests extended beyond vocal music, for, as a student, when she and fellow choristers took part in the “Celebration of Music” held in Boston in April of 2005, she was awarded a medal for her “outstanding performance” as a piano soloist. She also plays tenor sax. She attributes her musicality to her opera-singer grandfather, who taught her piano at an early age.
Like her predecessor, DiOrio chooses music from various genres, from spirituals to pop, music that is appealing to students. At the same time, she is “taking baby steps” in teaching them sight-reading and using some foreign language in their musical offerings.
DiOrio is now concentrating on the upcoming holiday concert, which not only celebrates the season, but is also visualized as an opportunity to show what students have accomplished in the brief time in which she has been wielding the baton. “It’s on Friday, Dec. 16th at 7 p.m. Put that on your calendar. Plan to come,” she admonishes. (Her singers will also make guest appearances at the various sending district schools.)
When DiOrio is not in her classroom at Watchung Hills, she runs (“every day, faithfully”), teaches piano and voice, serves as an accompanist, plays with her beagle-dachshund.
Soon she will begin studies leading to a master’s degree at The College of New Jersey.
One thing is certain: Angela DiOrio, as a student, never dreamed that one day she would stand in the spot where her teacher had once stood. “It’s different being on the other side, but I’m enjoying it,” she said.
