NORTHFIELD — Thirty-year-old Tim Burns says he knew he wanted to be a teacher since he was 5, and specifically a music teacher since he first joined his high school band.
So when Pioneer Valley Regional School administrators offered him a job as band director, he said his first reaction was “Great! Where do I sign?”
Burns is replacing Nathan Holesovsky, who resigned at the end of last school year, having accepted a job at West Springfield High School. After meeting with Principal Jean Bacon, Assistant Principal Jennifer Albert Perry, Superintendent Ruth Miller and a couple of parents, Burns said he was offered the job on Aug. 18, starting with the new school year.
“I absolutely love working with students,” Burns said. “I love the nitty-gritty, I love the growing pains and I love that ‘Aha’ moment during performances. My goal is to have as many of those moments as possible.”
Burns — who is originally from southern Maine but has moved to Northfield — previously held the position of part-time band director for Sacopee Valley High School in Maine. For two years, he said, he taught a group of about 20 students, resigning to be closer to family for the past year.
Aside from teaching private lessons in Portland, Maine and Conway, N.H., Burns has been involved in symphonies and musical theater. He played horn with the Casco Bay Wind Symphony for seven years and started the 207 Wind Orchestra, serving as its conductor.
“I hope I can find a venue for (musical theater) in this area, too,” Burns continued, noting he enjoyed supporting singers, actors and dancers in musicals like “Into the Woods,” “Sweeney Todd” and “West Side Story.”
For Burns, a connection to music began very young, when his aunt arranged piano lessons for him. He picked up tuba while a band member at Biddeford High School, an instrument that followed him through college at the University of Southern Maine. There, he received a bachelor’s degree in music education and a master’s degree in music composition.
Burns said he primarily plays the horn and the recorder, though he can teach every instrument. He said he’s excited to teach seventh- and eighth-graders, as well as the high schoolers he’s more familiar with teaching.
“It’s almost a bonus two years,” he said. “It’s so cool to see how far they come in that amount of time.”
Having a robust band of around 100 students is thrilling, too, Burns said.
“I’ve always loved the idea of bringing really good art to the masses,” he said. “I get to influence over 100 students a week and show them why the arts are so important.”
Holesovsky, who was band director for 13 years, helped ensure as smooth a transition as possible, Burns said, communicating with him about the band’s ins and outs.
“It’s really difficult coming in after a well-loved teacher,” Burns said. “I’ve had a lot of positivity from the students about the change.”
Burns was able to meet students early, observing during band camp on Aug. 21 and 22. Eventually, he said he wants to get to know each student as an individual, as “more than just the girl that plays clarinet,” so to speak. Some of his own interests, outside of music, include board and video games, listening to podcasts and watching “The Office” and “Survivor.”
In the long term, he hopes his students will learn to think intelligently about their interactions with music and how music can be a tool of expressing emotions in a meaningful way.
“What I come back to, when I think about why I do this, is I believe our music sounds the way our feelings feel,” he explained.
Reach Shelby Ashline at: sashline@recorder.com
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