Lifting her hands in a swift upward movement, senior Daria Abramovitch signals to the Bowie JV choir that the downbeat is approaching, as she drops her hands sharply, nearly 40 choral voices ring out in their various parts. Along with several other duties, occasionally conducting is a large part of Abramovitch’s role as a teaching assistant (TA) for the Junior Varsity Choir.
“What I mostly do is I help out with specific songs. If Mr.Bourgeois is not there, I’ll teach the class,” Abramovitch said. “Usually during concerts, I’ll be warming people up, running transitions, and then running the song that I’m also directing.”
The program began last school year when choir director Aaron Bourgeois realized he could use a helping hand with the growing class size, making Abramovitch only the second JV choir teaching assistant in Bowie history.
“Last year we went from having two different non-varsity level classes to combining those classes due to numbers,” Bourgeois said. “Now that they’re together, it’s one really big class,”
Bourgeois considered Abramovitch for the position largely because of her ability to take charge in a musical environment, and her consistent understanding of material that she uses to help confused singers.
“This year, we have Daria, who isn’t necessarily going into music, but she has shown a lot of interest in helping with the leadership end of things,” Bourgeois said.
In addition to being this year’s TA, Abramovitch is also a member and alto section leader of the Varsity choir and Bowie’s out-of-school choir group, the Silver Sounds.
“I’m teaching when somebody needs to speak up in the section.” Abramovitch said. “I’m the one doing that. And then I teach this class. So I’m in three of the four classes.”
When the choir is learning a new song and may need to split into sectionals, Abramovitch is able to teach several different vocal parts as needed.
“She definitely stood out that first year,” Bourgeois said. “I had her sing everything from soprano one to probably the lowest alto at different times.”
In her role as TA, Abramovitch acts as a second set of hands to Bourgeois, assisting with the song process, handling classroom tasks, and offering the students a leader in the form of a peer.
“A lot of times it’s like seating charts or talking to them about random things or they have a billion questions,” Bourgeois said. “Or it may be a thing where it’s a really complicated song and we kind of tag team.”
Abramovitch considers answering questions and conversing with the students about the music, and even just their lives, to be a big part of the job.
“I’ll give advice to the students,” Abramovitch said “Even though I’m older, and I’m more experienced, I can still be more of your friend. It’s the human connection that I like.”
According to Abramovitch, the JV students covet a very warm and accepting community for each other, even under the stress of a difficult song or approaching a concert deadline.
“It takes a lot of energy to go into a class in front of so many kids, you can’t be sullen and angry,” Abramovitch said. “Sometimes I’m just like, this is the last thing I want to be doing, coming in here right now, and then the kids are happy or, they’re also having a bad day, and then we’re all together in it.”
The angle of connection that Abramovitch brings through a peer relationship with the students helps form stronger communication and building enthusiasm.
“I think she’s just meant to help others, set an example, and help the teacher of course, but also just give advice to everybody,” freshmen JV Choir member, Evyn Kidd said. “She’s very fun, she doesn’t make the class seem boring, she tries to get people to participate in everything.”
Abramovitch’s ability to insight excitement, but also recognize that she is ready to get serious and take charge when needed.
“During our fall concert we were having a hard time getting quiet and everything, but Daria calmed us down and told us what we were going to do,” Kidd said. “So she kind of took the role of that leadership when Mr.B wasn’t around to help us.”
Director Bourgeois considers Abramovitch’s ability to be enthusiastic and carefree while also being able to reign in the choir’s chaos, to be a productive contrast to his own teaching tactics at times.
“She’s no-nonsense in a way that I think really helps me because I’m a little bit too much nonsense sometimes,” Bourgeois said. “When we’re really needing to crack the whip on things, I feel like she’s able to get the kids to be quiet and listen.”
With Abramovitch as Teaching Assistant, the choir room comes alive with laughter and enthusiasm, but her light-hearted manner doesn’t prevent her from taking charge and keeping the choir organized and on track.
“I think she is really the backbone, she supports Mr.B and she supports the choir,” Kidd says “She’s very easygoing, but when we need to work, you know, it’s ‘go time’, so she’s definitely the backbone behind everything.”
