Practice, practice, practice.
The words danced in Jim Territo’s head the moment he spotted his name on a placard at Carnegie Hall.
It was May 2006 when Territo, 27, arrived in New York with family and friends to witness as a piece of music ? his music ? was directed by renowned conductor H. Robert Reynolds.
Again, Territo recalled the words that brought him to the Big Apple to see his name, small print or not, there on the wall.
‘Yeah,? he said, stepping for a rare moment outside humility. ‘How do you get to Carnegie Hall? ‘Practice, practice, practice.?
Territo, a 1997 graduate of Clarkston High School, developed a passion for music at an early age, and over the years it became a force that drives his life.
Today, Territo is an instructor of instrumental music at Detroit Country Day in Birmingham. He also directs the choir at St. Daniel’s Catholic Church in Clarkston.
Teaching music to adults, he said, is not so different from teaching music to children.
‘I spend a lot of time saying, ‘stop that; don’t touch that; put that down; get that out of your mouth,?? said Territo. ‘And that’s pretty much with every group I work with.?
After his previous position, where he directed the choir and led the horn section at Faith Baptist Church, Territo was hired to lead the choir at St. Dan’s, his family’s church, in September 2005.
His mother, Bev Territo, has been singing with the group for as long as her youngest son can remember, so accepting the position initially had Territo wondering how the arrangement would work out.
But, he said, returning to his old church to work with some of the people he’d once watched singing alongside his mother has been fun for both the choir and Territo.
‘He’s always stood out no matter what he’s done,? said Marcy Rotondo, a 25-year veteran of St. Dan’s choir. He’s just special, there’s a spark about him.?
As a longtime member of the community, Rotondo, who works as the administrative assistant in Clarkston’s city office, recalls the many plays and groups Territo participated in while attending Clarkston schools, and said she was excited to hear he’d been hired to direct the choir.
‘I was thrilled, especially because I had been to quite a few of his school events. I am so proud of the fact that he is now our director.?
And directing a choir that includes his mother, said Territo, hasn’t been so bad, either.
‘It’s not nearly as weird as I thought it would be,? he said, describing his mother as a generous and meticulous woman. ‘She’s been a really, really big help. She’s been doing this forever, so she can tell me what’s been done or not done. When people have been singing in the choir for 20 or 30 years they don’t want somebody to rock the boat, they just want somebody to help them sing pretty.?
And when he’s not teaching a hymn to the choir or a horn or a flute or a sax to the youngsters, Territo is often pursuing his passion ? and honing his talent ? for writing music.
‘At 12 or 13 he’d sit down at the kitchen table and write music like you or I would write a letter,? said mom Bev Territo. ‘I’d say ‘how in the world do you do that?? and he’d just say ‘I don’t know, I just do.??
But Territo said his passion for composing grew partly out of the desire to write music he and his friends could play in junior high. He would think of their personalities, he said, and write a piece that seemed to fit the goings-on of their adolescent lives.
But peers weren’t the only influence on the music Territo was composing early on. Several teachers, both public and private, encouraged and mentored the passion and talent that became more and more obvious as Territo entered Clarkston High School.
‘He was always incredibly enthusiastic and incredibly creative,? said Cliff Chapman, who retired as Clarkston High School’s director of instrumental music and fine arts coordinator in 2004. ‘He just couldn’t get enough of what was available. He was always looking for things to do, always involved.?
The admiration between teacher and student is mutual ? Territo describes Chapman as the most influential musical mentor of his teen years, remarking that many of Chapman’s former students went on to become music educators themselves.
‘I got my teaching degree begrudgingly,? he said, explaining his dream of majoring in music composition. ‘My dad told me he would help pay for college if I got something that would put food on the table. But once I started to do pre student teaching, I was really in love with it.?
He graduated from the University of Michigan with a Bachelor of Music in Composition as well as a Bachelor of Music in Education, and is currently pursuing a Master’s of Music Education with a thesis entitled ‘Encouraging compositions through student competitions.?
Just two months after he collected his degrees and walked away from UM, Territo landed a job at Country Day, where he teaches high school and elementary band.
‘Boy, does that take a lot of energy,? he laughs, sounding much like a broken-hearted elephant as he attempts to replicate pre-instruction elementary band music. ‘But I love watching the process. To see the kids get excited when they start having success with the music, that’s the fun part of music education for me.?