Plains School welcomes new music teacher

It was music to the ears for one of Plains School's newest teachers, who got his first teaching job less than two hours from home.

Loren Lauridson jumped right into his new job and within three days had the students rehearsing for their first concert of the year, a fall concert scheduled for Oct. 24. "I always say the sooner we get instruments in the students' hands, the better we will sound," said the 23-year-old Lauridson. Their first concert of the year will include the high school choir, band and percussion ensemble and will focus on traditional pieces.

Lauridson graduated from the University of Montana in the winter of 2022 with a bachelor's degree in music education kindergarten to 12th grade. He served as a substitute teacher and taught percussion to some band members in the Missoula area, but Plains is his first official teaching position. Lauridson said he hadn't considered applying at a lot of schools other than a couple small town ones, but most were in middle or eastern Montana.

"I couldn't imagine myself being an hour away from a grocery store so I didn't look into those openings very much. Getting the position here in Plains was awesome," said Lauridson, whose family lives in Missoula, where he can easily visit them periodically. "Plus, most of my colleagues and friends are from there as well, so I am happy I am close to them so I can talk with them as well." Lauridson said he loved going to Plains and to the fair in the summer when growing up. "The community here is amazing and when I saw an open position I applied for it," he said.

"Mr. Lauridson is a great addition to the Plains High School community," said Ryon Noland, the high school principal. "There are a lot of students taking his classes, and it is awesome to be able to offer a wide range of music electives for our students once again," said Noland, who added that Lauridson is also preparing for the Nov. 9 Veterans Day celebration performance in the high school gymnasium.

Nicole Burrows filled in as music teacher this last year so the school could offer band to the seventh grade to seniors and choir to freshmen to seniors. "I'd like to give Nicole some credit for keeping the music program afloat while the school looked for a music teacher," said Noland, who said the school is grateful to have Burrows, who he said is amazing for stepping up for the kids. "Nicole did an incredible job last year with these tasks making sure our students did not miss out on opportunities, such as concerts, pep band, and music festivals," said Noland. Burrows is also helping with Lauridson's transition to the job and continues to help when needed.

Lauridson started playing drums at eight years old and has played a number of different percussion instruments from the Balinese gamelan to the Trinidadian steel pans and he now can play hundreds of different types of instruments. "I have played kazoos, slide whistles, you name it. It's why I love percussion so much," he said. However, he said he had to do some research on the guitar, which he wasn't as familiar with. "One day I would love to learn bass guitar. My brother is a super good bass player, so I have always been a little bit jealous."

Lauridson mainly teaches flute, clarinet, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, bari saxophone, trumpet, horn, euphonium, tuba, percussion and guitar. He teaches high school band, choir, percussion ensemble, as well as junior high band and fifth and sixth grade band, where they're also learning how to read music. Most of his students already know how to read music.

Music is a passion for Lauridson. He briefly considered a career as an engineer, but said he didn't enjoy it as much as music. "I love the environment that music is in. It always has felt like its own little community of people who love to create and share their music with one another. I have always wanted to share that with students, even to just give them a glimpse of what music is," said Lauridson, who graduated from Sentinel High School in 2018 and traveled to music festivals throughout Montana, including a competition in Anaheim, Calif., where they placed first and won a spot to perform at Carnegie Hall in New York.

Lauridson loves all types of music and listens to various types depending on his mood. His favorite is electronic music, which he said involves a heavy amount of electricity to make music, usually a synthesizer of some sort or a music making program is used in the process. "It's more a computer creating the sounds than an actual instrument. This type of music is also usually pretty rhythmic and usually upbeat, although there are exceptions," he said. Avicii, who uses electronic music to combine different genres together, is one of his favorite musical artists. "It's super fun to listen to his stuff and it always has a killer beat."

Lauridson has been determining his students' levels of music proficiency on a daily basis and believes most are doing very well and excelling at their instrument. "Due to the Covid years and the dip in numbers that occurred in the music programs last year, the music program here at Plains is in a recovery state. I hope to get students back to where they should be musically in time, although it will certainly take a good long while to get there," said Lauridson, who added that they are being challenged by the repertoire he has selected. He loves teaching and has even been trying to teach his cat, "Muffin" to play the drums, though she seems to struggle.

He said he is "super motivated" with his new teaching position and sees the potential in each student. "I just know I can grow this music program to a large scale. Students have been telling me how excited they are for music everyday and it motivates me to do the best I can for them every day," he said. Lauridson has a lot of goals for his Plains students, but mainly he wants to expand the music program and create a fun atmosphere for them and even hopes for the high school band to at least double over the next year.

"I enjoy spreading my love for music to students and inspiring them to play music themselves. I hope to give them the tools so that they can forever enjoy music whether it be through playing or listening," he said. "I am excited to be in this position and cannot wait to see what the future holds."