During the pandemic, Demetrius Ethley was unsure if he would retire from being Carter High School’s choral director, but instead, he has now been teaching for 13 years, specifically functional piano, modern band, musical theater, music theory and choir. Part of “Mr. E’s” continued passion for the arts comes from being in Dallas ISD’s Virtual Private Music Lessons Program, which was soft-launched last October.
The virtual program allows directors to nominate students of a certain competency level for free, private music lessons over Zoom. Lessons are currently administered by University of North Texas graduate students or faculty members, and last year, when the program began, there were about 250 lessons per week. That number has grown and now stands at almost 650 lessons per week for 61 middle and high schools.
Matthew Edwards, director of Choral, General & Elementary Music says that students engaged in private lessons get one-on-one, personal training on specific and intentional concepts that are catered to them and increase their music proficiency. “These concepts are at the heart of all audition processes for participation in instrumental and vocal music at the secondary school and collegiate levels. Professionally, students will draw on these foundational skills in any type of music career. The real game changer is the other skills that are taught – diligence, responsibility, organization, goal setting, discipline, and a host of other attributes that contribute to a successful member of society, whether they are involved in music as adults or not.”
The other convenient thing about the program is that there’s no need for parents/guardians to have to drive their student to a lesson since many of them occur during instructional time. “Traditionally, these lesson programs are not provided for free by school districts and the cost of participating precludes a vast majority of Dallas ISD music students. They often take place outside the parameters of the normal school day which means that students using district transportation system are unavailable to participate,” Edwards said.
When speaking about the future of the Virtual Private Music Lessons Program, Ethley says he believes there will be much more growth in the next year. “In education, we always say, ‘how do we measure it?’ It’s hard because you have to measure the whole group’s sound, but now, this is an individual, measurable way to see a student’s growth to share with the community, the parents and the students themselves.”
This is something Ethley can understand, having grown up in Fort Worth conducting youth choir for his local church. One day when the director couldn’t attend, he stood up and started singing just to get the group going, and that turned into the first stepping stone for his career in music. “That’s where I got my sense of choral love because I grew up in church, whether that was gospel or hymns. Then, I went to school and got a side of choral and spirituals.”
The former coordinator of secondary choral and general music studies in Dallas ISD, Mackie Spradley, recruited Ethley to join the district after knowing him in middle school as his choir director. It’s this kind of mentorship that Ethley hopes to pass on to his students should they decide to pursue music education. He says music is what he breathes and he can’t imagine the choir not soaring. His next aspiration is for Carter High School to be the first Dallas ISD choir invited to sing at the annual Texas Music Educators Association Convention someday.
“It’s not a goal for me; it is for the kids to say that all the work we’ve put in, others must see it because you are being invited to sing, not just out of town, but in front of musicians from all over the state. It’s one of the things that gives great validation that there’s quality music education happening here,” Ethley said.
