With the departure of Mrs. Perron last year, Mountain View is excited to welcome the newest ‘23/’24 addition to the music department, A.J Wulf.
Eight weeks into the new school year, Wulf has made himself cozy in the music department, excited for the opportunities presented to him. “I go into every program with the plan of building it and developing it. Taking it from point A closer to my vision…I’d like to keep the family feel of it and grow the size. I’d like it to be a program that people are inviting and encouraging their friends to be a part of, where the students are active advocates for their own arts program…[it’s] more achievable and more meaningful if you can get your performers to do that than if the directors are the ones who are trying to push that thing.”
Wulf said he would like to maintain the family feel of the music program. He feels this way because his previous schools were not so welcoming. “I’m really enamored with the culture of the students in this program, particularly (theater, musical theater, choir). They’re really extremely, maybe aggressively supportive of one another. They’re super tied into the program…and they’re really gung ho about it but in a very positive way, in a way that lifts each other up, so that’s been really awesome. I think that’s true of the staff in general too. We have a really good sort of collegial relationship around here. It’s more warm and open than other schools that I’ve worked at before.”
Contrary to the way he presents himself, Wulf is not an extrovert at all. To describe himself, he said, “[I’m] a weird introvert artist guy with lots of weird introvert hobbies.” Those weird introverted hobbies mentioned are extensive and listless. “Its a ton of just ‘I’m gonna do this hobby this year,’ and then I go and do it, and I’m like, ‘okay, that was easy, now I’m gonna go do this one.’” A few of the numerous hobbies Wulf involves himself in include floral work, cake decorating, writing and composing music, working in different positions on productions, and painting. He notes painting as his favorite and is actually a commissioned painter. He is also currently working on writing an opera with his colleague. In terms of production positions, he said, “‘Brigadoon’ was probably my favorite to be in because it was like a great family-type show…As far as shows I’ve directed, ‘Godspell’ and ‘Cats’ are probably my two favorites from my last school.”
Wulf finished off with his message to the students, saying, “At this age, you get into a lot of insecurity and a lot of people telling themselves, ‘Oh, I can’t sing, I’m a bad singer, I can’t be an actor’ and if you say that you’re correct. You have decided to shut yourself off from something that could be an opportunity for you. [But] if you take the opposite tact and say ‘I don’t do this yet, I’d like to do this, I’m just not as good as I’d like to be’ …With positivity and optimism, you leave yourself open to a lot of opportunities, and I encourage that a lot… I encourage all of my students to say yes more.”
