Jordan Zauha

By Whitney Nelson

Being involved in various extracurricular activities can be stressful for students, but it can also help them succeed. One such student is Yutan sophomore Jordan Zauha, who was recently named Yutan’s first Nebraska All-State Choir representative in more than a decade.
Zauha left for the all-state convention on Thursday, Nov. 15. The convention lasted throughout the weekend.
The Nebraska All-State Band and Choir auditions are open to any high school students in grades 10-12. For band, students must play a scale and three required pieces. For choir, students must sing a scale, an arpeggio and three required pieces.
Zauha started practicing his all-state music at the end of last school year. He tried to practice whenever he had free time.
The audition was at Elkhorn High School on Oct. 13. Zauha was one of many high school students from the west Omaha area who auditioned for Nebraska All-State Choir and Band. This was his first audition in front of someone he didn’t know.
“I was very nervous,” Zauha admits.
Zauha was not the only Yutan student who auditioned for Nebraska All-State. Senior Whitney Nelson auditioned for her third time, earning a spot as an alternate for the second time. This was senior Anna Buhman’s second year auditioning for choir and also her second year auditioning for All-State Band. Buhman’s brother Zack, a sophomore, also auditioned for band.
Success is not a new thing for Zauha. He’s an active leader in all things that he does and is involved in several different areas of extracurricular activities besides choir. He is also in band and jazz band. He’s involved in sports such as cross country, basketball and track. He is part of the one-act and all-school casts as well as the musical, and he’s the secretary-treasurer of the International Thespian Society. He also teaches CCD at his church.
With all of these activities, school can become stressful for Zauha. He manages to keep his grades high with some encouragement from his parents.
Overall, Zauha finds his all-state results just a little bit surreal. He’s honored to be representing Yutan in the All-State Choir. But Zauha, who practiced mostly on his own, feels he must give some thanks.
“I’m very thankful for everyone who’s helped me out,” Zauha said.

2006-2007

Gathje at Carnegie Hall

By Kayla Miller

Singing at Carnegie Hall in New York City is something most people would consider a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but for Yutan choir teacher Jon Gathje, it’s something he has already done twice.

As a senior in college, Gathje learned of a chance to sing at Carnegie Hall in a choral workshop. In order to become accepted and participate, he had to send in an audition tape of himself singing and speaking German, along with an application and resume. Now again at the age of 25, Gathje recently earned the opportunity to be a part of the workshop online.
           
Gathje left for New York City on Sunday, Jan. 7, along with his sister, Christina Modrell, and his parents. While in New York, Gathje went to many shows, including Spring Awakening, Grey Gardens, Wicked, Spelling Bee and La Traviata. Gathje was one of the audience members who was chosen to participate in the Spelling Bee musical on Broadway by going up and taking part in an actual spelling bee.
           
Shopping, of course, was also something Gathje did while in New York.
           
“I went to designer stores that are going out of business, so that everything I bought was cheap,” Gathje said.
           
On Saturday, Jan. 13, Gathje performed as a tenor at Carnegie Hall singing selections from St. Matthew Passion, conducted by Helmuth Rilling. Participants from 26 states, Canada, England, Germany, Italy and Puerto Rico took part in this year’s chorus, which consisted of 77 members.
           
St. Matthew Passion was first performed in 1727 and performed for the first time at Carnegie Hall on Mar. 1, 1892. Gathje sang in the 2,804-seat Isaac Stern Auditorium/ Ronald O. Perelman Family Stage, the biggest stage at Carnegie Hall.
           
Gathje said singing at Carnegie Hall has been the aspiration of every great musician in the world for over 100 years.
           
“You know that if a person sings at Carnegie Hall, they’ve made it,” Gathje said.
 Gathje only had six days to prepare and learn his music, but said he thought he sang well for the difficulty of the piece and his inexperience with it.
           
“It was hands down the hardest piece of music I ever had to learn in my life,” Gathje said.
           
Gathje said he found his experience at Carnegie Hall humbling.
           
“You realize the unbelievably huge influence that Carnegie Hall has had in our country,” Gathje said. “It is a great thing to sing one of the most monumental pieces of music on that stage.”
           
After the 3½-hour concert, the performance received a six-minute standing ovation, which Gathje said was his favorite part of the whole trip.
           
“It made all the work worth while and showed the appreciation the city felt toward the music,” Gathje said.
           
On Sunday, Jan. 14, Gathje and his family headed for home, but ran into a few problems. They had an 11:30 a.m. flight that was delayed twice and then eventually cancelled. They looked for flights to Minneapolis, but found none so ended up rebooking their flight to New Jersey for an 8 p.m. flight. Gathje arrived in Omaha at around 1:30 a.m. and still had to drive back to Lincoln.
           
Although the end of the trip had some difficulties, Gathje said he would absolutely do it again.
           
“Not many people get to work with great conductors like Helmuth Rilling and it gave me the opportunity to meet great singers and improve on my own skills,” Gathje said.