While students have interesting extracurriculars beyond school hours, passions and hobbies apply to the staff as well. English teacher Alexandra Crawford bounces between literature and opera. She teaches classics like Romeo and Juliet during the day, and then sings classics such as Dialogue of the Carmelites as the night draws near.
“I didn’t know much about classical music in high school, and I fell in love with choral music, singing in a choir, that kind of environment at school,” Crawford said.
At first, the choral arts were far more familiar to Crawford than classical opera, but that quickly changed.
“I applied for a music scholarship at College of Charleston. [I] got a really good one, and so I went there. I was way behind in taking voice and learning how to sing classically compared to other people that I was with, but I fell in love with it,” Crawford said. “I worked really hard, and… I got one of the one of the leads in… Dialogue of the Carmelites… it was like a 20th century opera, which is like crazy. The way they sing… it is just very different. So it was my first experience. I loved it.”
Crawford’s time in the vocal arts was greatly influenced by international opera singer David Templeton, who was her voice teacher in college.
“Crawford has one of the best voices that I’ve ever taught… as far as just sheer vocal talent, she could have done anything she wanted to do, at least in classical music,” Templeton said.
Despite her love and talent for singing, Crawford’s life ended up going down a different road: one that led her to Wando High School.
“I have probably 10 friends that moved to New York to try and make it, and, you know, they’re working in the restaurant industry while also going to auditions. And that’s just not an environment I was… interested in trying to pursue that,” Crawford said. “I had a teacher that… tied in a lot of music in his teaching. And I was like, wow, I can actually do that… I can have both, but teach English rather than trying to, like, pursue this like, crazy lifestyle of trying to just make it… and trying to make ends meet financially.”
While this transition was certainly large, Crawford was comfortable enough in both of her areas of expertise to make it work.
“I decided to go the English route. I was a music major, and I minored in English, and so I decided to do TeachCharleston and get my teaching certification that way… but I didn’t want to give up music. I loved it too much. So… I still do some paid gigs with like churches and funerals and weddings, that kind of thing. And then I actually sing in… an a capella group, so in a quartet, and then also in a chorus,” Crawford said.
After two years at Wando, Crawford has certainly made an impact on her students. This is exemplified in sophomore Natalie Hessberg, who took Crawford’s English One class.
“She’s so sweet, she’s so nice. She really, like, genuinely cares about… all of her students, and… actually wants to get to know them… it really feels like she wants a genuine connection,” Hessberg said.
While volunteering in downtown Charleston, Hessberg gained the privilege of being one of the few students who has gotten to see Crawford perform.
“I think it’s a great outlet for her, honestly… it’s something that she can truly enjoy, and from what I’ve heard from her, and just people that have also heard her singing… she just, like, genuinely loves it, and she’s really good at it. She has a great voice. So I think… it really fits Ms. Crawford well,” Hessberg said.
Despite what preconceptions people may have about opera, Templeton warns against making snap judgments.
“Most people have an opinion of opera and yet they’ve never experienced it,” Templeton said, “So how does one have an opinion if they’ve never done it, they’ve never seen it?”
Crawford echoes this sentiment with her view of the theatrical and vocal art form.
“I think opera is a lost art for… my generation and anyone younger,” Crawford said. “And I think the beauty of it is, it’s just storytelling in another language… I think it’s beautiful music and incredible stories.”