The West Hills Middle School choir surprised Walmart employees when they were invited to perform at a local Walmart Fulfillment Center grand opening/employee party in September. Students sang the U.S. national anthem and “Venezuela” and “No Me Voy a Decir” for the employees, 80% of whom are Venezuelan.

“We took the moment to do more Spanish songs and to learn more about Venezuelan culture to be able to sing for the audience things that they would recognize and understand,” choir director Michael Draut said.

In a show of gratitude, the Walmart manager presented them with a $3,000 check, and employees were surprised when Draut thanked them in Spanish.

“There was a gasp from the audience and a murmur,” Draut said. “There was this light-up moment where it’s like, ‘Oh, these aren’t strangers who are just performing at us, they’re performing for us, and they’re with us.’”

It’s moments like this that Draut tries to create as his choir students perform for members of the community at Grizzly hockey games, senior living centers, at Temple Square and City Creek Mall and at local
elementary schools.

Community involvement—along with consistency, good learning experiences and making learning fun—have been the basis of Draut’s choir program.

“I think getting involved in communities helps grow the program a lot,” he said. “Kids love field trips. I love getting out and connecting.”

Field trips to the opera and theater allow students to see performances and even watch the rehearsal process for professional singers. Guest performers introduce them to different styles of singing, such as a barbershop quartet that performed for classes recently.

Nathan Pace, a senior at Copper Hills High School, reluctantly took choir in middle school. He is now a member of Copper Hills High School’s concert choir, prestigious Madrigals choir and the All-State choir.

“I wouldn’t be where I am without Mr. Draut,” he said. “He inspired in me a love of music that has carried me through my middle school years and into high school, and it still shapes the way I think and act today.”

His experience under Draut’s direction influenced his three younger siblings to take choir classes. Their mother, Cherilea Pace, said Draut’s classes have had a significant impact on her children.

“He is very good at creating vision for the students,” Pace said. “He really helps them to visualize their success before it happens. And that’s an intrinsic part of good performing in the arts. But he just applies that to everything in life. So I think that’s super helpful for the kids.”

Pace became the choir accompanist and saw how Draut shared personal stories to encourage students to push themselves.

“He encourages his students to anticipate learning from hard things,” she said.

Pace said the quarterly “comfort zone” assignments, which challenged students to do something they normally wouldn’t do, helped her children who have anxiety and who are introverted develop life skills.

Her daughter Marie, who is an introvert, has talked to people in the halls, auditioned for solos in front of the class, and attended social events for some of her comfort zone assignments. Now a ninth grader, Marie said she is now confident singing in front of others.

“If it wasn’t for Mr. Draut, in my first two years I would not have done anything,” she said. “I would have just not auditioned. I would have just hoped that no one noticed me, probably. My last two years have greatly affected how I am now. I’m not sure if, without those comfort zone assignments, that I would be as confident in myself as I am now.”

Pace’s children also commented on how they felt “immediately accepted” in Draut’s classes and that Draut was relatable and fun and an overall great teacher.

“He cares about the music, but he cares more about the kids,” Jacob Pace, a junior at CHHS, said.

Draut is passionate about teaching students about the power of their voices. He believes that choir develops life skills students need, especially middle school-aged students who are figuring out their identity and dealing with the uncomfortable changes of puberty.

“Everybody has a voice that they should learn to develop and learn to love and share with people,” Draut said. “It’s a very powerful tool the rest of your life to know how to use your voice to share stories and to express how you’re feeling.”

Pace said Draut builds up students’ skills and confidence and emphasizes the ways music brings people together.

“He talks to the kids about the impact that their voices can have in reaching other people’s hearts and in lifting other people,” she said. “He chooses music, too, that the kids can put their hearts behind.”

In an effort to connect with all his students through music, Draut tries to use more music from other cultures—especially Hispanic music—in his choirs. Draut wants the demographics of his choir to match the school’s demographics, which is about 30% Hispanic, including a recent influx of refugees from Venezuela. He said learning and performing Hispanic music would help Spanish speaking students feel comfortable joining the choir and more connected to the music.

“I know choir would be great for them,” Draut said. “It immediately helps them connect to other students and foster community, and it would help our current students that don’t understand refugees or their situations to be a little bit more open-minded to what they’re going through and how to best support them and befriend them.”

The cost of new sheet music for these new songs for all his students would exceed Draut’s budget, which has been cut in half in recent years at the same time his program has grown by more than 300%. Draut plans to use the money awarded him by Walmart, and other grant funding he has sought out, to purchase the new, diverse music. λ