Breaking news: Band Director Joel Burns is adopting another cat.
Currently, he has three others, one of whom is named Sweetie, whom he’s had for eighteen years since he was in kindergarten. He prides himself in favoring cats over dogs, listing their many upsides.
“I do like the fact that you can get really engaged with the cat,” Burns said. “It gets super hyper. Then, you go about your business, and you’re able to reconnect; it’ll take a nap with you, which is great. I love taking my afternoon naps with my cat.”
Burns’ cats are very important to him, so much so that he brings them up often in his band classes, which are the Wind Ensemble, Percussion Ensemble, Jazz Ensemble, and middle school band that he recently started teaching at FHC.
He graduated from Michigan State University with a music education major and a jazz studies minor, where he was also student-teaching at the East Lansing public middle and high schools this past spring.
Now, he teaches at FHC, where he is excited to work with the staff and students.
“There are great students,” Burns said. “Seeing the marching band and how much they’ve improved from back in August to now—there are lots of things that they’re doing much better, and seeing their growth and seeing who they are as people is really exciting to watch. I’m really excited to see each student grow through the program as I start them in seventh grade and see them graduate in 12th grade.”
Burns is incredibly proud of the marching band and their improvement, especially during the marching band camp in the summer, as they quickly learned and were able to perform within a week of work.
In addition to teaching music, Burns himself knows how to play all of the band instruments, but his main focus is the trumpet.
He started learning piano in fourth grade from his grandma and joined the school band in sixth grade, and he hasn’t left since.
“I kind of just got hooked from middle school,” Burns said. “Once I started high school, I was like, ‘Okay, I think I really want to do this,’ so I just got involved with music. I was in the band room most of my day during high school and never was able to shake it.”
On top of surrounding himself with music, he had a band teacher in middle school who inspired him to teach as well.
Burns especially admired his teacher’s reasons for teaching, which included his appreciation of students and their value in the band program. He also stressed the importance of music appreciation.
“All students deserve a good education and music and hopefully develop into lifelong musicians,” Burns said. “They might play their horns, play their instruments their whole life, but if they can listen to some music on the radio, for old school people, or on Spotify or YouTube and just have an appreciation, [that is really important]. [My band teacher] really valued each individual student, and that’s something I really looked up to him [for] and is something I try to emulate every day: meeting students where they are and helping them to grow as musicians, as people, to get better every day.”
Burns deeply cares about each of his students’ development, and he understands the importance of each student in the band program, which he feels is especially demonstrated in jazz bands.
He cites that each musician is equally important, from the third trumpet player to the baritone saxophone player, the bass player, and the fourth trumpet player.
“All the parts contribute to the overall sound,” Burns said. “If you’re missing one of those parts, it leaves something out. I think it’s a really important message for our students to learn that their voice matters, what they bring to the table matters, [that they have] the opportunity to express their voice and not feel judged or made fun of, and [that they] have the opportunity to voice their opinions, feel safe in the band room and the music space, as well as in our school community.”
Burns looks forward to his time at FHC and carrying on the values of his own band teacher as he continues to make more students feel welcome in the bands, in addition to the time spent with his cats, of course.
Ultimately, Burns hopes to inspire an appreciation and understanding of music expression that he himself values deeply.
“I really appreciate the fact that music itself oftentimes expresses things that words can’t,” Burns said. “It helps us to feel emotions that are sometimes hard. It helps us to express certain emotions that we can’t express with words. Lots of times, I’ve listened to a song and really related to what’s going on with the messaging behind the song. Everyone should have access to music education, understanding what is really in the music that’s making me feel sad or happy besides certain lyrics.”
