Today we’d like to introduce you to Michelle Risling.
Hi Michelle, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I have been singing with my father since I was a small child. He would sing Elvis, Roy Orbison, and the Righteous Brothers with his 12-string guitar, and I’d sing along with my stuffed animals propped up as an audience.
When I was in elementary school, my family went to see a children’s choir concert, and I knew right away that it was going to be my whole future. The choir I heard that night was the North Coast Singers, and I joined up right away. I sang with North Coast Singers until my high school graduation, and then returned as the director of the high school ensemble in 2008, while I was still a college student myself.
After completing my degree and credential in music education, I became a full time high school choir director, but have continued to direct a North Coast Singers choir every weekend for the last 18 years. In 2022, I also began directing North Coast Singers’ adult women’s choir, Sorelle San Diego. As of last year, I’m thrilled to be serving as the nonprofit organization’s Interim Artistic Director. I’m also currently completing my Master’s degree in conducting at SDSU, and I’m very excited to nurture and grow North Coast Singers and my school’s choral programs in the future.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I have definitely encountered some obstacles, but I was always laser-focused on building a successful career in choral music. In my senior year of high school, I became very ill, and had to have several surgeries over the course of my early college years. My health was a constant uphill battle, and it was incredibly difficult to maintain the health of my primary instrument, which was my voice. Though I’m still not in excellent health, I truly believe in the healing power of music, and getting to make music with amazing people is one of my biggest motivators every single day. It is my strength and purpose.
As a child, my classmates and I all suffered from the brutal budget cuts to San Diego’s school music programs in the early 1990s. The schools I attended from elementary through high school did not offer any comprehensive music education programs, which is why North Coast Singers was founded by Sally Husch Dean in 1993. I found myself academically behind in music literacy when I began my university studies and had to work very hard to complete my music degree. North Coast Singers had provided me with the basic education I needed to get into the program in the first place. I also had my first job opportunity as a director with North Coast Singers. I discovered that teaching young people the material I was currently learning helped me more fully understand it myself. Because I struggled academically and finally mastered the material, I feel better equipped to help my students overcome their academic obstacles today.
More recently, the post-pandemic rebuilding of music programs has challenged directors and educators all over the world. We are actively working to build up our youth choir programs at North Coast Singers, and are welcoming new 1st-12th grade students throughout the year! They get amazing opportunities to sing with orchestras, perform in concerts and festivals, and travel.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am, primarily, a conductor of choirs. As a conductor, it is my role to be the “hub” through which live music flows between the musicians in the ensemble. Leading up to a performance, I also prepare the musicians through the rehearsal process as a director. I have found myself in a place where I have become a specialist in treble choirs, which are traditionally choirs of children and women, though I have many combinations of voices in the ensembles I direct. I also love to explore the music of global cultures with my singers, in addition to music from the classical Western tradition. I deeply believe that singing music from all different cultures plants a seed in the heart of people, and makes them more curious about the world around them. It is my hope that learning to love a culture’s music helps young people become strong, compassionate global citizens.
I have been involved in San Diego’s choral music community since I was only 7 years old, and I believe that my lifelong love for this city and its music sets me apart. I am now the Interim Artistic Director of the very choir I grew up in, creating a full-circle moment in my life that I’m very proud of. I am incredibly lucky to be able to provide children and women with the same musical home I was provided with as a child.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
Both as a community choir director and a public school educator, there is so much advice to give. If I could choose only one thing, it’s to remember what a privilege it is to make art for a living. I have a poster in my classroom that says Collect Beautiful Moments. It reminds me every day that musicians create a succession of stunning, gorgeous moments that will never ever be repeated the same way twice. You must savor all of those moments, whether they’re created by young children or a professional adult chorus. All moments of beauty are precious in a world where there is too much ugliness.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.northcoastsingers.com
- Instagram: @northcoastsingers
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/San.Diego.North.Coast.Singers/
- Other: https://www.sorellesandiego.com
