“There is a great art to music and how it fills someone’s life,” Hahn says when asked about why he chose music as a career.

“I want our students to leave high school—and even if they never ever sing in a choir again—I want to give them something positive to take away. And one day go, ‘that’s a good memory,’” E replies on the same topic.

Mrs. Erlandson and Mr. Hahn (known as E and Hahn) are the choir teachers at Prior Lake High School and have made an enormous impact on their students’ lives—even the ones just there for art credits. They take time to know all their students’ strengths and struggles and build them up to be the best people they can be, teaching the fundamentals and joys of singing along the way. 

In fact, it was their former music teachers who inspired them to take on the same career. “Our teachers made music the most comfortable place in school and inspired us,” E and Hahn explain. 

Both their high school experiences were impacted by their music teachers. E states, “Being able to see a really strong model of not just directors but teammates put a really big impact on me.” She reveals how the connection of her former teachers helped shape her now as a director.

Even though Hahn started singing later than E, he explains, “Music was always a big part of my life and I always had a good ear. I always ate up everything they gave me.” He continues to show that through his classroom instruction, sharing his own musical experiences and implementing everything he’s learned from his education and directors.

When asked about the best piece of advice he has received from another musician, Hahn can’t truly come up with an answer. “There are so many little things. There’s such a developmental curve to what we do, so I don’t think there was just an epiphany, but there’s a focus on the challenges when it’s kicking your butt.” He believes his band teachers taught him about working to overcome struggles and focus on the hardest spots, which is why he makes his musicians look for the toughest spots to work on before heading into the easier bits of their music. 

The Prior Lake Choir offers opportunities for all levels of singers. Freshman and first-year choir students are in Treble Choir for the female voices and Meistersingers for the male voices. The Choralaires for the female voices and Varsity Choir for the male voices are the next step. Finally, more experienced voices make up the Women’s Chorale and Concert Choir. Each choir learns the same things but at different levels, and the difficulty level rises as singers improve. The music becomes more complex as a singer’s time in high school passes.

Even though there are lots of choral opportunities, E talks about how she can never have a favorite. “I enjoy teaching them all because it keeps me honest and challenges me.” On a given day when teaching voices, it keeps things interesting. “It’s not as stimulating and motivating to grow in one way. There are pros and cons in each [ensemble], but I like having the difference.”

Hahn agrees and laughs as he says college him would not have agreed. If you met him then, he would have sworn up and down that he would never teach Junior High and would never teach women’s choir. He lived in a house of all boys and thinking about what his Junior High choir teacher did, he believed he could never do that. Though when he got his first job at Hidden Oaks, he was surprised to see his capability to do and enjoy the things he feared. As he himself moved from junior high to high school, he realized “the little hurray victories from Junior High become much bigger when you move up, even if they take a little longer. I love what I’m doing and I feel the variety is interesting and the challenge of music is harder.” And from experience, the women’s choir can challenge Hahn in the best way as he has fun trying to sing the highest note sung in warm-ups. 

When it comes to the music, E says it depends on the concert. “We pick the stuff that is appropriate for the setting. We choose the ones that we like, but also the ones we may not. The [choir] program is designed to have contact with so much music and covers a lot of bases for us. We pick songs that challenge our students’ [singing] ranges and also challenge how independent the parts need to be.”

At the end of the day, both teachers just want their program to be a community and a family. “If we were completely homogenized, we wouldn’t have the sound diversity or the connection to the music we have,” Hahn explains about the choir community, something he and E strive to create every year. Creating that community is the core reason they have a three-day Choir Bootcamp before the school year starts. They both strive to keep it a safe space, “If somebody is talking about someone behind their back, that doesn’t exist [here]. There was nobody there to protect me except maybe my buddies in choir, but I want everyone to know they have a place and value.”

E elaborates on the subject, explaining the diversity of the choir family. “We try to model vulnerability and that we can make mistakes too. I try to let my students see that it’s okay and to be really real with my students on how things affect me.” The teachers are very open about if they aren’t having the best day, letting their students know it’s okay and why they may be acting ‘different’ from their usual day-to-day selves. 

Choir is filled with a variety of students. Many people and opinions fill the 150-plus students in the program. Choir encompasses all types of students with all types of talents, whether musical, athletic, or artistic, who come together with a love for making music. “That variety makes us better,” E smiles, showing the pride she has in the diversity of the program. Anyone and everyone is in choir, making it a 150+ member wonderfully diverse family.

Through their own high school experiences, role models, and collaborative structure, E and Hahn work to make memorable experiences and inspire their students toward a brighter—and hopefully more musical—future.