A first job is often stressful, daunting, and most of all an experience to be remembered. For Marc Hornig, the newest orchestra teacher at Metea, this is his first teaching job is within this school. Teaching several levels of orchestra classes and technique classes, Mr. Hornig is embracing his first true teaching job with open arms.

What were you most excited about this year?

I was excited to meet all the students. Right away, I got to work with them a little bit during the interview process. And I was really excited with how responsive they were and engaged and wanting to have fun. I was also really excited to be a part of a team of really great educators here. At a lot of schools, the music department’s really small, usually, schools have like one orchestra and one band director. But it’s been awesome to be working with some, like real drivers that really connect to the kids and it’s a really great working environment as a teacher here.

What has surprised you about Metea so far?

I’m surprised how smoothly the school runs and how many students we get involved in the music. A third of the school is currently involved in the music department which is an insane statistic. Many schools across the country have, you know, less than 15 to 20 percent involvement for students in music. So it’s just really awesome how much emphasis music has in this school, and it’s really awesome to be part of it.

What got you into music in the first place?

My father played the guitar and a little bit of piano. He would always play Beatles songs and stuff that we’d listen to together. I really wanted to learn music just so I could play with him. I learned guitar first and then once I got to school programs, they wanted me to do either band or orchestra. I picked up Viola and then I just took off with classical music. 

What’s been the biggest challenge so far?

The biggest challenge so far, has been figuring out how I can best serve the students. It took a little bit of time to figure out the students and talk to them and get to know what’s going on in their daily lives. And all the things outside of class that affects what we do inside a class. So now that we’re a couple of months in I really feel like we all know each other better. It’s more of a learning community so everything’s going well.

What’s been your favorite moment of the year so far?

I think there was one specific rehearsal with the group. We were working on a piece, a very difficult, slow piece that can be very intricate for students. It seemed like we weren’t getting it for a while and I was unsure if we should even program it. One day it kind of seemed to click with the students and I saw some light bulbs go off and the music just sounded beautiful, even if it was just for a 10-second interval. Everyone kind of looked up, it was this really cool moment. Everything just gelled together like it was a hive mentality. I think that was really cool for everyone involved.