Choir director uplifts her students

CENTERVILLE — When Viewmont High School's production of the "Phantom of the Opera" opens tonight, attention is likely to go to anything from the elaborate sets and props, to the live orchestra to the students in the play, including the principal characters.

However, the real star of this show isn't Christine or Raoul or even the Phantom. The figure standing in the orchestra pit almost completely out of view, who has likely put more time and effort into the production than anyone else in the auditorium, is the one who deserves the credit.

Jeanne McGuire stands in the pit, arm high in the air in preparation to direct while her other hand gives any additional guidance which may be needed, instead of playing the piano as it normally does. With a flourish, the overture of the play fills the auditorium, and the fruits of McGuire's labors over the past several months can be heard by all. She has worked on everything involved in the production from costumes, to choreography, to set design and directing.

McGuire has spent the past 29 years of her life like this — directing, instructing, encouraging, uplifting and, most of all, teaching as the choir director at Viewmont. However, she is also a mentor, friend and guide.

Approximately 600 students participate in her program each year, meaning she has taught around 20,000 students over the course of her teaching career. Her philosophy over the years has always been to help her students rise to the occasion.

"That everybody can get better than they are, that everybody can grow, that no matter what you start with you can add to it (has been what I teach)," she said. "The kids can rise and be a part of something greater than themselves."

This ideal has been put into practice by emphasizing the individual as well as the choir as a whole. Marsha Bradbury taught special education at the school for many years and all of her children went through McGuire's program. Bradbury was constantly impressed with McGuire's willingness to allow her disabled students, whether it was physical, visual or mental impairment, to participate in the choir, which yielded good results.

"Jeanne has a way of just including (these students), in making them not feel disabled," she said. "It's just phenomenal her attention to the individual."

Participating in choir helps these students in numerous ways. "The music gets them in a place nothing else can," McGuire said.