As appearing in source.colostate.edu | May 8, 2025 | By Anthony Lane
Music education strikes chord for master’s degree grad
While pursuing a master’s degree in music education, Paul Haarala had a surprising realization when he took a turn conducting Colorado State University’s Concert Band.
Having taught middle school orchestra for six years, he already knew what it was like to stand in front of a musical ensemble. As a tuba player, he had a solid grasp of brass instruments. And yet, conducting a band and getting it ready for a concert felt like a step into the unknown. He’d have to interpret a different kind of music while providing steady guidance to woodwind players, percussionists and other musicians.
Then, he stood in front of the band, and his uncertainty disappeared.
“I found myself very naturally giving specific feedback that I didn’t know was in my head,” Haarala said. “I realized I’m almost as comfortable teaching band as I have been teaching orchestra.”
That comfort may go a long way in explaining Haarala’s success in the music education program. As a teacher in South Carolina, he found himself at a professional crossroads, unsure of how to elevate his teaching and speed his progress developing the school’s music program.
Now, after two years at CSU, he has gained confidence as a teacher and developed new insights into what it means to be an educator. He has also excelled as a researcher, scholar, mentor and leader.
This month, he is graduating with a Master of Music in music education and distinction as the Outstanding Graduate representing the CSU Graduate School based on his academic achievements and wide-ranging service to his department and the university community.
“Paul’s positive attitude and incredible work ethic are infectious,” explained Erik Johnson, an associate professor of music education who worked closely with Haarala throughout the two-year master’s program. “He is one of the top graduate students we have had in our program.”
The list of Haarala’s contributions and achievements is lengthy. Serving as the department’s music education practicum coordinator, he organized more than 1,000 hours of service learning for undergraduates starting in the music education program.
As associate director of the Middle School Outreach Ensembles program, or MSOE, and the Trying-Out Teaching Project, he worked with CSU undergraduates and local high school students to run a three-month free music program for students from more than 40 northern Colorado middle and high schools, an effort recognized with the 2024 Exceptional Achievement in Service Learning Student Award from the Office for Undergraduate Research and Artistry.
And his pioneering study examining the experiences and motivations of the state’s orchestra teachers led to an invitation to give a primary research presentation at the Colorado Music Educators Association, a rare honor for a graduate student.
“It’s been really rewarding to realize how capable I am at doing things that I might not be comfortable with,” Haarala said. “I didn’t really know what a thesis was before I came here, and now I’ve written a 100-page document.”
Among the parts of the graduate program Haarala found most rewarding was the opportunity to mentor undergraduates aspiring to become music educators. In his first year overseeing the orchestra production for the MSOE program, he worked with a group of undergraduates to prepare dozens of participants from nearby middle and high schools for a musical performance. The task of conducting the developing orchestra and coordinating the production largely fell to Haarala. The next year, some students returned to the program.
“It’s not even just that they grew as teachers,” Haarala said. “It’s the fact that there are five of them and one of me, and it felt very much like we were working as a team. They were taking initiative, sometimes solving problems before I even knew about them.”
Haarala started playing tuba when he was in seventh grade, and he considered pursuing a career as a performer before recognizing the appeal of becoming a music educator. “I love music and want to share that with other people,” he explained. Now he’s also learning violin and viola as he works to continue developing as an orchestra teacher. Next year, he will teach orchestra and mariachi at Sunset Middle School in Longmont.
At most schools, music classes are an elective, an option students must choose. Haarala acknowledges that this is an essential part of being a music educator: “Our job security is based on whether or not kids enjoy our class.”
At the same time, music pays a central, even essential, role in many people’s lives. It is a key part of many celebrations and ceremonies, and it is also a way to pass time and a bridge for connecting, relaxing and discovering.
“Music education is unique because it teaches people how to engage in a deep way,” Haarala said. “It teaches them to be more creative, and it asks students to be more empathetic as they try to understand the emotions that others are trying to communicate.”