While most Howell High School students arrive at school at 7:35 a.m., many choir students and their teacher arrive at 6:25 a.m. for extra rehearsal time. Last year, Mr. Closz held this responsibility, but now there is a new teacher, Mr. Anthony Funaro. Following in the footsteps of former choir directors, Mr. Bushy and Mr. Closz, Mr. Funaro has stepped up to take over Howell High School’s choir program. Mentioning how his previous school was much smaller than Howell, he notes that this year has been slightly stressful but good nonetheless. 

“It’s been a lot of fun getting to know their voices, getting to learn what music excites them, and just trying to make music with people I don’t really know yet,” Mr. Funaro said.

In getting ready for the first choir concert of the year, there has been a lot of preparation. Programming music for students he didn’t know well was one of Mr. Funaro’s biggest challenges towards the beginning of the year. Choosing music is one of the first things to be done, which Mr. Funaro mentioned was hard, as he had not been able to get to know the students’ voices beforehand. 

“One of our songs, I feel like it’s just a little too easy for us, but we have this one called ‘High Flight’ that is so good and I love it so much,” junior choir student Lily Rozmys said. 

As Mr. Funaro said, it is hard to pick music for voices that he doesn’t know well. There are bound to be songs that land and songs that don’t. Rozmys shares that there is some music that may be too easy, but there is also some that she really enjoys. Mr. Funaro looks forward to giving kids more difficult pieces in the future, as he knows they can handle it. 

“There’s a lot of passion here and I think I really, really love how much kids love the arts and how passionate they are about it,” Mr. Funaro said.

Howell High School’s performing arts department, also known as the “K wing”, involves many students in school activities, in which Mr. Funaro admires their passion for. As he got to know the students better, Mr. Funaro realized that he was able to perform songs that he might’ve never been able to do outside of Howell. He is excited to “up the bar” for both himself and the students. Mr. Funaro also brings new ideas to Howell, suggesting that he thinks the performing arts department could benefit from a parent booster organization, as a way to make sure that students are always able to have what they need, such as program costs and uniforms. 

“He really focuses on parts where certain sections struggle, and he wants to make sure that everybody has a voice to make sure that they feel very comfortable with all the parts,” Vice President of Acapella, senior Dane Calnicean, said. 

Calnicean observed the emphasis which Mr. Funaro puts on making sure that all the students’ concerns are being addressed. With the first concert coming up soon, choir students express that it is important to know the music and be comfortable with it. 

“He is just, like, so friendly and I could really tell that he enjoys what he is doing and that he really cares about it,” Rozmys said. 

Mr. Funaro has felt welcomed to the choir room with open arms. The students are glad to have fallen into the hands of someone who is passionate and serious about music, and who is also kind and caring.