Photos by Erin Nelson.
Students in Micheal Zauchin’s show choir rehearse for the Winter Spectacular showcase in the choir room at Oak Mountain High School.
Since his arrival at Oak Mountain High School in 2013 to take over the choral department, Michael Zauchin has helped the program to grow and thrive over the past eight years.
“When I got here, there were about 55 people in the choir for the entire department, now we sit at over 200,” Zauchin said. “It has grown pretty significantly. Both ensembles (a co-ed group and a women’s only group) have over 50 people in each.”
While earning his Bachelor of Science in Choral Music Education from the University of Alabama, Zauchin founded and directed Resonance, the first show choir on campus that is still in existence today.
He has also served as a show choir consultant since 2008 for multiple programs around the state of Alabama including Spain Park High School, Vestavia Hills High School, Jasper High School, Jackson Preparatory School, Hoover High School, Eufaula High School, Bumpus Middle School and Berry Middle School.
The performing arts department at OMHS comprises about one third of the student body, which includes band and choir. Zauchin directs all the choral ensembles on campus, which include highly ranked concert and show choirs. He also assists with the school musical each year.
“I was actually a band kid before I was a choir kid. It gave me tools to teach a show choir band, which consists of students in the band program,” he said.
Micheal Zauchin, choral director at Oak Mountain High School, plays a key on the piano as the show choir rehearses.
Getting technical
Zauchin has also built and established a concert technical program at OMHS where students learn all the technical aspects of putting on a concert. These include lighting, audio/visual, graphic design, building a stage using all of the same decking, LED lighting and more.
“I want to teach them so they can be prepared if that’s something they are interested in beyond school,” he said.
For the past few years, Eric Doss, a sound engineer who lives in Helena, has assisted the program. When the pandemic prevented him from going on tour with Tame Impala, he was able to share his wisdom with the choir department.
“He really poured into our program and taught our technical kids so much,” Zauchin said. “He pushes our kids to do live audio visual work.”
Even though Doss is back on the road on the concert tour, he maintains contact with the group and helps the students each year.
‘A hardworking group’
Zauchin said his singers and dancers are a talented and hardworking group. They put in easily 6-12 hours each week of work outside the school day and at least one weekend month they work between 12-16 hours Friday and Sunday. He said he would rather have a hard worker than a talented child in the group anyday.
“Their ultimate goal is to do whatever they're doing well and put smiles on people’s faces,” he said. “Whether it is... a competition show or holiday show, they want to entertain people at a very high level and that's what I push them to do.”
Zauchin has created a massive leadership council that includes choir managers, dance captains and section leaders. He said he can't do it all by himself, so this allows students to take some ownership.
The historians post on Instagram pages and put together virtual and physical scrapbooks. When positive things happen, the students put a note in the sunshine box and they are read aloud each Friday.
Shows throughout the year
The show choirs will perform a formal winter concert on Nov. 18 at Metropolitan Church of God. It will feature music from Rachmaninoff, Mozart and Ola Gjeilo, which is a very classic repertoire.
“We pride ourselves on being diverse performers,” Zauching said. “I wanted to bring a formal concert element to it. We have a concert choir here that has around 65 kids in it and all they do is sing. They will also be performing on Nov. 18.”
Just in time for the holiday season, OMHS will present the annual Holiday Spectacular at the school’s performing arts center Dec. 9-11. The first half of the show will feature holiday music and after intermission, the group will preview sets from their spring competitions.
“Our goal is to produce a fun, family-friendly show,” Zauching said. “During the season, what better way to get in the holiday spirit than to bring that to our neck of the woods and give people quality entertainment in Shelby County?”
In the spring, the popular Dessert Cabaret nights will return. Last year, it ran for five nights and sold out every single night with crowds around 900 each.
Show choir competitions are held in the spring. OMHS typically competes every Saturday in February. Zauchin said this year’s plan is to compete at the Jasper Foothills Classic on Feb. 12, the Homewood South Central Classic on Feb. 19 and he hopes to travel to Cedar Rapids, IA to compete against choirs in the Midwest on Feb. 26.
Students rehearse for the Winter Spectacular showcase.
‘An outdoor music festival’
In April 2020, the OMHS choirs held the King of the Mountain Invitational with over 20 schools from Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia in attendance. Held in the school’s parking lot due to the pandemic, the event brought in over 3,000 people.
Although the invitational cost $42,000 to host, they were able to make back $70,000 from admission, registration fees and concession money. However, with construction set to begin soon on the school’s new fine arts wing soon, Zauchin said they won’t be hosting the event this year but hopes to bring it back as soon as possible.
“It was a massive success for everyone,” he said. “They enjoyed being outside and it had more of a music festival vibe which people love.”
For more information on the OMHS choral programs, or to buy tickets to events, visit omhschoirs.com. The groups can also be found on Facebook (OM choirs) and Instagram (@oakmtnchoir).
