Latin School of Chicago

Mike Teolis directing the Wind Ensemble at the 2008 holiday concert. "I suppose it all started with my music teacher, Mary Maj, singing songs from the Fireside Book of Folksongs. This music formed the core of my musical repertoire today. Mary taught us about music, but she also taught us so much more about listening, about manners, about the love of music. I should note that my first musical composition was written in first grade – and this first work was dedicated to Mary Maj. I had heard Beethoven's 'Für Elise' and so I wrote some small composition and grandly titled it 'Für Mrs. Maj.' My musical experiences continued under the tutelage of John Austin, whose life and music provided the model for what I wanted to be when I grew up. John was a man of integrity, intellect and creativity – but he was also hip enough to have a Jefferson Airplane poster hanging in his living room. ... John also interested me in composition and music history – two paths which I continued upon in the years following my graduation from Latin. John was, simply, my most influential mentor." – Ron Pen '69, former Performing Arts Department chair Mary Maj with Ron Pen '69 and his sister Polly Pen '72, who are both respected musicians and composers today. 90 L AT I N M AGAZINE to grow. In addition to the Wind Ensemble, Teolis nurtured the Jazz Ensemble and periodically converted the Wind Ensemble into a marching band for special occasions, including this fall's 125th anniversary parade. In recent years, Teolis also has traveled with the band and chorus to England (2000), Ireland (2004), Finland and Estonia (2008) and Germany (2012). The same year Teolis accepted the job of Performing Arts Department chair in 1994, the middle school arts program was expanded and every sixth and seventh grader began taking band or chorus plus a trimester of art, dance and drama. Eighth graders could take band, chorus or Arts Cycle. The lower school program also grew under music teacher Janet Underhill, who introduced the Orff-based method of music education. At the same time, visual arts teacher Brenda Friedman began integrating the visual arts program into other areas of the lower school curriculum and added the practice of annual field trips to various cultural institutions for students starting in first grade. In 1996, the lower school art room was refurbished to allow room for an entire class of students, thereby giving each student more time for visual arts. With the addition of the Humanities course to the curriculum in 1995, Latin required all graduating students to earn two credits in the arts: one-half credit fulfilled by Humanities: Visual Arts, one-half credit in the performing arts, and one-and-one-half credits in either the visual or performing arts. Today, those requirements are the same, with Global Cities replacing Humanities.

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