We recently connected with Jeff Costello and have shared our conversation below.

Jeff, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

About twelve years into my 24 year career teaching Middle School Choir, I to made a distinct change of musical direction. I decided to stop trying to “fit into the suit” (traditional classical choral music) and to start being my more authentic self (Contemporary Commercial Music). Performing more popular styles of music caused my choir program to grow from 200 to 260 students in just a handful of years.

The culmination of this transition was the four “Rock Concerts” we did the last four years of my career. The first one was called Rock of Ages and was terrifying for me because I was not in front of the kids conducting. Instead, I was behind them playing drums as my rock band, Paris Blue was the accompaniment for the entire concert. The concert was so well received that we were interviewed by a local TV station and were featured on several broadcasts the next day: https://www.fox17online.com/2016/06/13/zeeland-middle-schoolers-rocks-audience-with-rock-of-ages-show

The following year we did a Beatles Tribute concert and the same TV station came to our morning rehearsal to do another feature: https://www.fox17online.com/2017/05/30/a-beatles-tribute-local-choir-rocking-out-with-live-band-for-finale-concert

The following year we did an I Love the 70s theme and my last year (2019) was a collage of music from many different genres but all accompanied by a full rock band with horn section.

In 2018 I was invited to present “How To Stage a Choir Rock Concert” at the Association for Popular Music Education conference in the Nashville area.

Having played (multiple instruments) in rock bands for 30 years (including running sound) provided me with the knowledge capable to stage these Choir Rock Concerts. They don’t teach music majors any of that in the traditional University setting.

At first I was very hesitant to take my choirs in non-traditional direction. But it allowed me to be much more of my authentic musical self being a long time lover and fan of pop and rock music styles.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I was born and raised in the small Conservative town of Zeeland, Michigan.

I’ve been a fan of music my entire life. I was 6 years old when I received my first AM transistor radio where I fell in love with the Top-40 music that WLS out of Chicago was playing. I eventually began asking for records for birthday and Christmas presents.

When I was in 4th grade, I learned that in order to be in the percussion section in band (starting in 6th grade) one needed piano lessons. We lined up lessons with a family friend and after a year, I stopped taking them which is to this day one of my biggest musical regrets. In hindsight, I should have started lessons a few years earlier. I had already “written” my first song by then and slowing down to learn how to read sheet music was very frustrating for me.

I played in the percussion section from 6th grade all the way through high school graduation and loved every minute of it. During my sophomore year of high school I got my first drum set. I loved jamming out to my favorite rock songs by Journey, Styx, Nightranger, Rush, etc. Both my junior and senior hears of high school, I played drums in Jazz Band which I also loved every minute of. At one point my junior year, the band director passed out a piece that had a vocal. He immediately asked me if I wanted to try it. Horrified, I actually got up and went first. After about fifteen kids tried it (a surprisingly high number, I thought back then) I was awarded the solo. The first time we performed the piece was in the Middle School (that I had attended) cafeteria during lunch. I remember when I was in Middle School, when the Jazz Band played at lunch that was like a Rock Concert for us!! I don’t remember how well I sang but I definitely remember the screams. I had NO IDEA that was coming. An eruption of screams. I was instantly addicted to singing and performing.

Near the end of my Junior year the Choir Director sought me out and had me audition for the top choir in the school. I made it into the group. My senior year I had FOUR music classes: Band, Jazz Band, Madrigal Singers, Teacher’s Aide for Freshman Band. I was basically a Music Major! hehe

I decided to audition to be a real Music Major (Voice) at Central Michigan University. I eventually learned that I would be required to sing Classical/Opera music the entire time. I was so green that I actually did not know that going in. I also immediately started playing in rock bands. By my Junior year I was playing about four nights per week, about three weeks per month and I realized that student teaching would probably not work after getting home at 3 am on Wednesday and Thursday nights, so I switched to a non-teaching Music Degree.

After Graduation I joined Paris Blue on guitar and keyboards. I had switched from drums to that role a couple years prior (I got sick of being stuck in the back hehe). Paris Blue immediately rose to the level of an A Circuit Regional Touring Rock Band in 1991. We started playing some of the largest and most hallowed rock clubs in the Michigan. By 1994 we had played in 14 different US states. We played six nights per week 50 weeks per year so about 300 nights per year. It was a BLAST. It was also a lot of hard work.

By 1994 many of the once great Rock Bars all throughout the Midwest had made significant changes. Some became Sports Bars. Some switched to Country Music. Some closed down completely and were eventually torn down. Because of this the band made a collective decision to stop touring. We continued as a local weekend band but we all settled down, got married, started families and got… DAY JOBS!!!

My wife suggested I go back to college and get my teaching certificate (do that student teaching thing that I opted out of at CMU). I wasn’t thrilled about the idea but I knew it was the responsible thing to do so I attended Grand Valley State University for two years and became certified to teach Music at Public Schools in Michigan.

Next came a couple fantastic strokes of luck. A Middle School Choir job opening was posted at the very same Middle School I attended in my little old hometown of Zeeland! And, I GOT THE JOB!! What followed was 24 years of everything everywhere all at once (to borrow a movie title). To anyone who has never been in a Middle School Choir room, it’s quite something. Especially if the groups are large. The last handful of years my groups were all between 50 and 75 students per choir. With just me as the only adult in the room the vast majority of the time. It was both wonderful and a constant struggle. It’s difficult to put into words. Seriously, if you ever have children who are in choir in school, go volunteer in that teacher’s classroom. They will thank you and it will be very enlightening as to what teachers have to deal with on an hourly and daily basis.

In January of 2020 I opened Zeeland Academy of Music offering private lessons in Voice, Guitar, Piano, Drums, Bass, Songwriting, Live Sound and DAW operation. Most of these skills were gained by playing in rock bands for 30 years. When we moved to online lessons during the Pandemic, my numbers actually went UP! You couldn’t do dance, soccer or baseball, but you could take online lessons with Mr. C at ZAM! This was when my wife and I decided it would be best if I retired from the Middle School Choir gig which I did in the summer of 2020. Since then, ZAM has added a second teacher and a second teaching space all in a downtown Zeeland storefront property. I enjoy providing a service that also brings 80 families per week to the downtown area. It’s great to hear from local restaurants and shop owners tell me that my students and their families are regularly visiting their businesses.

For about the past eight years I have had the good fortune of serving on the faculty for the LoVetri Institute of Somatic Voicwork(TM) at Baldwin Wallace University in the Cleveland area. During the nine day conference for voice teachers every July, I lead breakout sessions and do hour long presentations on Audio Equipment for the Voice Studio, Using Somatic Voicework with Teens and Choirs, and this past summer we added, Using Somatic Voicework To Teach Distorted Rock Singing. Being a part of this team has afforded me the wonderful opportunity to gain many private voice students from around the world who are also teachers and singers themselves. Working with high level singers is an incredibly rewarding experience and one for which I will always be grateful. Over the past three years I’ve taught students (via Zoom) from: England, Scotland, Australia, Chile, and several different US states. In addition to my local students at ZAM, I currently have students in Atlanta, GA, the DC area, Ann Arbor, MI, Mt. Pleasant, MI, London, England, and Brisbane, Australia.

I consider myself incredibly fortunate to be as busy as I am in this “part 2” of my Music Education career.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

Everyone should strive to create art. Everyone benefits from creating art. It doesn’t even have to be good! We all just need to do it. It’s great for the brain. It’s great for the spirit. It’s great for the soul! It allows us to use our brain in ways we might not normally use it in our daily lives or at our day jobs.

My younger brother (and bandmate) teaches high school and he says he can tell which students are in performing arts classes. They have more self confidence. They’re more comfortable having face to face conversations with adults. So, KEEP YOUR KIDS IN THE ARTS IN SCHOOL!!

Studying music in school actually improves how our brains work because when we perform music we’re using both hemispheres of the brain plus we’re using our body! It’s like solving a quadratic equation while doing an activity in Phys-Ed class. Scientists say there is not another activity that lights up more areas of the brain, at the same time, than DOING music.

So, DO MUSIC!!

I had a 60-something year old guitar student who had played a bit in High School so we were just getting him back up to speed with chord changes. As we were playing through a chord progression, I could tell he was REALLY concentrating. We paused and I asked, “when is the last time you remember needing to concentrate that hard on anything?” He immediately answered with something to the effect of, “I couldn’t tell you the last time I needed to concentrate that hard on anything.” To which I replied, “That’s why you’re here!”

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

As my performance schedule has slowed, while my teaching schedule has increased, the most rewarding part is when you see the spark in someone’s eye because they GOT IT!

Learning to sing or play an instrument is all about building on tiny little successes. Of course, there can be setbacks along the way, but if the students are willing to put in the effort, the results usually come and that’s pure joy to witness. In fact, ZAM has our third Recital coming up very soon!

Contact Info:

• Website: zeelandacademyofmusic.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zeelandacademyofmusic/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ZeelandAcademyofMusic
• Other: Rock of Ages Concert: https://youtu.be/GacXvkE7Nbs?si=3r5aUrqVK9d3ZzzS Beatles Tribute Concert: https://youtu.be/rOBuFTIoIcs?si=BM0Xc_eH2gpsPYKq I Love the 70s Concert: https://www.youtube.com/live/VPIt1NeClk4?si=GAVf0eEKooKUU_Nc&t=1018 2019 Spring Concert: https://www.youtube.com/live/5NQC_pd3t-I?si=IsyqSHlKAhd-rXnt&t=991