Music educator Emma Surdilla is in just her second year of teaching at Kings Canyon Middle School, but her positivity and dedication have encouraged more students to take music classes, with enrollment increasing by almost 40% this year over last year.    

Kings Canyon Principal Landon Ailanjian said Surdilla had an immediate impact on the school’s music program, helping students discover a love and passion for music.  

“She is a shining example of having a heart for students,” Ailanjian said. “She gives her students the gift of music.”  

Surdilla grew up in the Bay Area and learned how to play several instruments but primarily focused on the euphonium while at James Logan High School, renowned for its award-winning performing arts program. She went to UCLA as a Regents Scholar and majored in music education, accepting a job as the instrumental music teacher at Kings Canyon after obtaining her teaching credential, also at UCLA. 

Surdilla said that she loves building connections with her students and guiding them as they learn to read music, explore a wide range of musical styles and grow in confidence along the way.  

“I enjoy watching them form a relationship with music that’s going to follow them the rest of their lives,” she said.   

Her first year and a half of teaching music has been enjoyable, but she has felt like actually teaching and having her own students prepared her far more than her undergraduate studies at UCLA could.   

“A lot of this job is knowing the school and knowing the students and being able to adapt to whatever community you’re in,” she said. “The hands-on experience I’ve gotten has helped me grow so much in just a couple of years. 

“There is so much about being a music teacher that is impossible to plan for. The content, skill set and responsibilities are so vast and varied.”  

In addition, she started college at the beginning of the pandemic, and many of her instrument pedagogy classes were online. She’s pursuing a master’s degree in music education through the American Band College at Central Washington University to help fill in knowledge gaps in those areas.  

Surdilla sees a direct connection between music and academics and tries to emphasize activities in her band and orchestra classes that can help students in their other classes. Skills like focus and discipline, essential when learning to play an instrument, also translate well to students’ other classes.   

Recognizing that literacy skills are essential for success across all subjects and serve as the foundation for a bright future, she emphasizes reading music and learning to track well on the page.   

Surdilla also likes to make students comfortable with the concept of learning from mistakes.  

“There’s a lot of learning how to be OK with being bad, and learning how to make it better,” Surdilla said.   

When students first begin a band class, they are often nervous and don’t even want to start playing an instrument out of fear of sounding bad. She tells them to “make any sound” to help them get past their fears. She likes to impress upon students that this is an attitude they can use in all aspects of their lives so they are not afraid to try something new or to fail.   

“I like to tell students that even if you’re not going to become a musician or a music teacher or even play an instrument in high school, the things you are learning in music class will help you in whatever you decide to do,” Surdilla said.   

She continues to maintain her proficiency as a performer as part of the Clovis Community Band and is frequently a featured soloist.   

 

 

Written by: Anne Ellis

Video: Jonathan DeLaCerda

Photos: Tony Bernard