After following a life of music, from classical violin to opera to music teacher, Lori Willis has found a home at Cal High as a music teacher.
Willis has been teaching Cal’s AP Music Theory, chamber orchestra and chamber singers classes since 2019. She also directs the school’s choir and orchestra.
Willis has lived her entire life with a musical background. She started her musical career at age eight with a classical violin, learning and developing her musical training. Soon after, she began her career in singing.
“I was always singing,” Willis said. “It just wasn’t something that was a serious focus.”
While she didn’t start to hone her skill for singing until later in life, Willis recalls singing in children’s choirs and for people at home with friends and family.
“I had no choice but to be involved in the world of music,” Willis said. Willis’s mother was a heavy influence as she was a music teacher, musician, and director. Willis said that she was always involved in music because her house always had a musical element going for it.
Her first solo stage performance was at school. Even at a young age, Willis understood the importance of capturing an audience’s attention. She expressed that as a young artist, she was no different from any other girl her age on that stage.
The first time on stage is something hard to forget. Willis said that while having doubts is normal, they got quieter the more she honed her skill, which is something she strives to teach her students.
Willis was involved with UC Berkeley’s music program as a youth and later entered the school’s political science program during her junior year of college. The critical thinking and understanding of issues that go on in the U.S. intrigued her.
In graduate school, Willis worked with Cal State East Bay singers and then moved on to working with the San Francisco Conservatory.
“I think it’s important to understand that when you have a talent, that’s a gift,” Willis said. “If you are willing to put in the extra work that it takes, then you can make it as far as you want to make it.”
Junior Jackie Young has worked with Willis for three years, mentioning how her classes were exciting and engaging, sometimes difficult.
“She keeps everyone on their toes,” Young said.
Sophomore Robyn Narayan, who has been part of Willis’s honors orchestra, described the program as a great environment to learn her craft. Willis’s students praise her teaching, passion and engagement.
“[The class is] very fun, entertaining, and set up for the right reasons,” sophomore Katie Messana said.
Cal theater teacher Laura Woods has worked with Willis for seven years. The first ever musical Willis did with Laura Woods was “We Will Rock You”, which was completely on Zoom during the pandemic.
“She’s professional and she’s kind,” Woods said. “She gets the work done that I ask of her when we’re working on a musical together.”
Woods praised Willis for her hard work and professionalism, as well as her dedication to getting her students to be proficient in their goals.
“There’s a window, and when that window passes, it’s a difficult career choice,” Willis said. “It would have been nice to have pursued professional singing a little earlier on in my life.”
This window was something that Willis made sure not to miss. She started at a young age, but with the way that system is set up, she ran out of time.
Plus, when her children were young, Willis caught a virus that would eventually lead to laryngitis. This inflamed her voice box and forced her to cancel several performances.
“That changed the trajectory of solo pursuits for me,” Willis said.
So after a life of music, Willis finds herself back at the beginning again, teaching music to those who love it too.
