Sadoway: An outstanding Choral Music Educator
CVHS Choir teacher Laryssa Sadoway was awarded Outstanding Choral Music Educator during the CMEA Bay Section’s Winter Conference.
Sadoway has taken a great amount of time and effort to get her musical talent to where it is today. Once she started singing in third grade, she did not stop improving her choir skills as she continued classes into high school. After graduating high school, Sadoway started a career in choir, performing with the San Francisco Cabaret Opera Compact and the Berkeley Opera Company. Eventually, Sadoway’s performances led her to pursue a life in teaching, becoming a choir teacher at CVHS in 2012.
Sadoway’s years of teaching at CVHS have paid off greatly, being recognized by the CMEA Bay Section, a forefront organization of music education.
“I get to run a very full and expansive program at CVHS,” explained Sadoway. “I have five choir classes which is unique, and in the last five years, our choir students have been getting better and better. For that, they have been getting more recognition.”
Sadoway places a lot of value in her students and the school regarding her winning of the award, explaining how the students have improved greatly over the past few years. Although she gives them a lot of credit, her accomplishments have not gone unnoticed by her students.
“She knows how to connect students with music as well as how to connect us to the students more,” says student Lisette Choo. “That builds trust and we get more serious about being in her class.”
Sadoway’s class is also greatly appreciative of the class as a whole, feeling like it brings them together.
“It’s really nice being able to sing with people who love music as much as you,” explains student Rachel Raskin.
Overall, Sadoway’s CMEA Bay Section award was an incredible representation of the abilities of both the students and teacher, putting great teamwork and effort into the class.
Regarding the future of choir, Sadoway describes how her classes have won first place in multiple categories in California choir competitions, but next, she wants to take them further.
“After Covid, I’m really hoping to showcase them on a national level, whether that’s a showcase or competition. I’m really proud of the diverse student body we have here [and] I want to show that off to the country and internationally.”
This marks the 10th year at CVHS for Sadoway, and she is more than ready to compete with global teams in choir contests. Teacher and student combined, the class has put in an enormous effort towards bettering their abilities in the arts, and their achievements reflect that. The Outstanding Choral Music Educator award is one of many to come.
I like the article about Ms. Sadoway because she is a great teacher and she really cares about each student in the choir program. Her success is all because of her hard work and dedication to do what she loves, sing and teach music. She has really helped me, personally grow and I know many others as well, who she has listened to and provided real feedback to help everyone improve and grow together and ultimately build a community.
Ms. Sadoway does so much for the choir program and makes the choir program fun for us. She pushes us in order to become better singers. I have made many friends through the choir program and will continue to make even more.
As a choir student at CVHS, I am highly grateful to have Sadoway as my teacher. Her love for choral music shines through her teaching as she teaches us how to further connect to the music that we are singing and performing. She trains us how to pay attention to little details, appreciate music, and, like Lisette said, connects with and encourages students. This all contributes to how incredible she has made the CVHS choir program and without Sadoway, I probably would not have continued to do choir in high school nor would I have met the amazing people I get to sing with 4 out of 7 days a week. Thank you Sadoway 🙂
i think ms sadoway is an amazing music teacher. she has so much experience, and she transfers that, and her love for singing, onto her students in the best way. all of the people in choir that i know absolutely love the class and adore her. she seems to train the kids so well, and the choir department has some really outstanding musicians.