Where Are They Now?

    HARLAN -- When she was young, Harlan Community High School 2016 alum Samantha Schmitz sang in her church’s childrens’ choir, and fondly remembers their Christmas performances at nursing homes.
    But at the time, Schmitz saw herself as an athlete, that is, until everyone grew taller and ran faster than her, Schmitz said with a laugh.
    So she pursued music.
    Paired with her mother’s influence as a music teacher at Logan Magnolia High School and Schmitz’s singing talent, the 2020 Music Education Iowa State alum substitute teaches vocal at various Southwest Iowa schools, including HCHS.
    Schmitz has also recently been accepted into a month-long program at the Lyric Opera Studio in Weimar, Germany, where she will sing a couple of roles in Mozart’s opera, The Magic Flute.
    Schmitz participated in concert choir, show choir, the musical, sang the national anthem with the band, and competed in the Solo and Ensemble Competition during her time at HCHS.
    The musician saw four different vocal teachers in her four years at high school, each equipped with a different focus and teaching style, which Schmitz found incredibly interesting.
    “It just made me want to be in that role,” Schmitz said.
    “But I also feel like I didn’t know the possibility of musical jobs outside of like, ‘oh you can teach.’ Like I knew there were performance opportunities out there but I didn’t know they were available to someone like myself.”
    Like Schmitz, many HCHS music program alumni venture far and wide in pursuit of their varying music careers.
    The defining feature of the plural noun “alumni” reigns in the realm of memory and the past, full of experiences at an institution served as the foundation of former students’ careers in music.

Nathan Johnson
    For 2009 alum Nathan Johnson, his music experience occupies the band department, where he played the alto saxophone in concert band, marching band, and jazz band.
    Between the eighth grade and his freshman year of high school, Johnson decided that he wanted to pursue music as a career, though he didn’t necessarily know why at the time.
    Now having held the positions of 5-12 band director and 7-12 choir for seven years at Belle Plaine Community Schools, the University of Northern Iowa alum said that he wants to give students similar experiences he had while growing up, like making friends, learning non-music related skills, and traveling.
    “Those things were really important to me during that time period, so if I can give some more kids that same, or hopefully even better experience than the one I received,” Johnson said.
    As a student under former HCHS band directors Steve Britt and Craig Crilly, Johnson noted that the duo frequently worked with him to ensure he was ready to study music education with an emphasis in instrumental music at college, which can be a considerable feat while working with so many other students.
    “When I got there [UNI], I wasn’t behind,” he said. “I had a good classical education and I had a good jazz education. A lot of what they taught me when I was in school I’m still using every day.”

Dylan Greer
    2011 alum Dylan Greer started taking drum lessons from Harlan Newspapers Managing Editor Bob Bjoin at the age of five, and also took drum lessons from former band director Steve Lawson. He grew up to participate  in jazz, marching, and concert band for his freshman and sophomore years at HCHS in the percussion section. He also played in Faith Sound.
    He continued his drum education with Omaha-based musician Dana Murray. Contrary to many alumni, Greer journeyed into music business  and now works as the general manager for FivePoint Amphitheater in Irvine, CA and for the Glen Helen Amphitheater in San Manuel, CA.  
    Greer credits Murray, Britt and Lawson for being major influences while growing up. He added that he still is friends with several of the people he performed with while at HCHS.
    “I think all of those people prepared me to be able to live in the fast paced environment that it took to kind of excel in the career that I’m in right now,” Greer said.

Alicia Rau
    In New York City, 1996 alum Alicia Rau has held a career in trumpet performance, playing for and alongside celebrities like John Mayer, Jimmy Fallon, and Denis Leary, according to her website. Rau attended AHST (now called AHSTW) and played the trumpet in their band until she open enrolled at HCHS her junior year of high school. The trumpeter said she wanted to be part of its music program.
    “With such a great — with such a strong music program between the pep band the marching band the concert band the jazz band, it was just fabulous,” Rau said. “So for me, I was in heaven.”
    By high school, Rau knew she wanted music to play a main role in her life, going on to graduate from the University of Iowa with degrees in music and anthropology, and a successful performance career.
    She acknowledges former band director Lee Nelson and Lawson for constructing the infrastructure for her budding music career.
    “Harlan gave me that fuel to feel like I had a foundation I could build off of in order to major in music in college and make something out of it, besides just ‘I like playing the trumpet,’” she said.

Other Notable Alumni
 
    •  Kyle Gordon - is a 2009 HCHS graduate who plays bass trombone in the U.S. Army Pershing’s Own, where he performs for events like the presidential inauguration ceremonies in Jan. 2021.
    •  Alan Holloway - is an HCHS 2017 graduate majoring in music education at Iowa State University. He is currently student teaching at Denison and will complete his degree in May.
    •  Fay Porter - is an HCHS 2018 graduate studying jazz performance at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. He tours and records music with a band called Midwest Coast, and works as a wedding and electronic drum DJ for Image Entertainment. Porter also participated in the Disney All-American College Band for a summer.
    •  Cassie Riley - is a 2018 HCHS graduate studying elementary education with an endorsement in special education and sings with the Iowa State Singers, the top mixed choir at the university. She plans on graduating in 2023.
    •  Kaitlyn Feldman - is a 2018 HCHS alum majoring in music education and music therapy at Wartburg College. She is involved in Wartburg Choir, musical theater, Hope Overflow (worship group), and serves on the council for Wartburg Music Therapy Association and on Wartburg’s American Choral Director’s Association chapter, along with the National Association for Music Educators.
    •  Aydin Jacobs - is a 2018 HCHS alum studying finance at Baylor University and has recently been named as the All-University Sing chair for 2022 for her sorority, tri-delta. She will graduate in May 2022.
    •  Katelyn Kluver - is an HCHS 2019 alum double majoring in Music Therapy and Music Education at Wartburg College. She participates in the auditioned choirs at Wartburg, including Castle Singers and Wartburg Choir.
    •  Irelynn McMurphy - is an HCHS 2018 graduate majoring in Spanish and intercultural students on the pre-law track at Wartburg College. She participates in the Wartburg Choir and Rosenchor.

   • Kery Lawson - was one of the premier trumpeters at HCHS.  She currently is working on her PhD in History at the University of Delaware. She obtained an MA in Historical Musicology in 2013, and also attended McGill University (in Montréal) for a year and a half, 2013–2014, for a PhD in historical musicology, but changed disciplines. Since then, she has received a Master’s in Library and Information Science, along with a Master’s in History on the way to the PhD.
    ***If anyone knows of another individual studying or performing in the music industry, please share.  Call 712-755-3111. We will keep a running list.