Mr. Dillion Nelson’s love for music goes back to his own high school experience.
Nelson was not originally in choir in high school but a music section called Jazz-Choir which needed a bass player. His teacher at the time said, “If I was going to be in the choir playing bass, then you are going to sing the acapella numbers as well.” Nelson enjoyed it so much that he joined choir the next year.
Nelson then continued bass and choir into his college career at CSU, Sacramento. He wanted to play professionally, but due to the competitive field and unstable pay, he decided to get a degree in music education, specifically in teaching choir. He said, “My men’s choir teacher pretty much said, ‘Hey you should consider doing choir.’ So I did.” Thanks to this suggestion, Nelson believes that it was “one of the big ones” or reasons to get this job. Along with playing professionally for 15 years since high school, his first job was playing in a string quartet.
One of the things that Mr. Nelson looks forward to when the choir grows as a class are the trips to Disneyland every other year, competitions, and competitive competitions. Maybe the future events might even offer cross country trips for choir members.
Thanks to the hard work and connections with the previous choir teacher Mr. Faria, Nelson received an invitation to sing at Cardinal Hall and Rome but the event did not have enough people for attendance. Working previously as a partner at Shelond High school with Stafford Hebert, this is Nelson’s first solo teaching job. He lived in Sonora, but now lives in Los Banos with his wife and dog, Squirt.
Please come to the LBHS and Creekside Winter Concert on Dec. 7, 2023 to hear these wonderful voices under the direction of our new choir teacher, Mr. Nelson.
