Olathe middle school singers reach national audience with ‘The Soul Behind the Eyes’

The 82 measures of “The Soul Behind the Eyes” is giving Olathe middle school students this week something they have yearned for since the pandemic began a year ago: a choir performance.

In fact, a performance on a national platform.

“The Soul Behind the Eyes” is a unique collaboration between Olathe Public Schools and Jim Papoulis, a world-renowned choral conductor. The song will debut at the American Choral Directors Association’s virtual national conference on March 19.

The song and performance got its start in December 2019 when Olathe middle and high school choir, band and strings students attended a composition workshop done by Papoulis. That visit was sponsored by the Olathe Public Schools Foundation.

Foundation Executive Director Cindy VonFeldt said the workshop was an amazing opportunity for students to engage in a hands-on, real-life experience. She said the experience not only encouraged a love of music but also helped to develop students’ ability to imagine, create and refine their ideas.

Papoulis said he benefited from the experience as well.

“In my songwriting workshops, I have the opportunity to learn about the thoughts, fears and hopes of today’s young people, and they inspire me deeply,” Papoulis wrote in his composer’s notes.

Frontier Trail Middle School choir director Gretchen Harrison said it was immediately apparent that the composition workshop produced something special.

“The vibe in the room that day we were creating was incredible,” Harrison said, who asked the composer afterward what he though about doing a piece. “He said, ‘That is an awesome idea.’ What happened — it was impossible to put back in a box.

“It was out. The idea was there. It was absolutely compelling that it would become something larger.”

Initially, the plan was to have a live premiere of the song in November 2020.

“That’s when we would be singing in choirs and doing what we always had done,” Harrison said.

When the pandemic hit, it was clear that plans had to change.

Undaunted, Harrison and Erin Stewart, choir teacher at Prairie Trail Middle School, led a team that pursued a solution.

“When it became clear we would not (have a live performance), Erin and I just kept plunging forward,” Harrison said. “We both feel the deficient of singing ... Of all the classes a kid can take in middle school, I am going to say choir has taken the hardest hit. You can’t have a choir with one child. You cannot have choir without people.”

All of the approximate 600 middle school choir students — grades 6, 7 and 8 — in the Olathe district were taught the song once it was composed.

The funding needed to complete a recording of approximately 200 voices was provided by Change4Conner Foundation, which honors the late Conner Taylor, a graduate of Olathe Northwest High School and one of Stewart’s former choral students.

The processing of recording was itself a learning experience.

“Our kids came to create these tracks from a completely novice perspective,” Harrison said. “We were supporting as much as we could, but we were here at school and they were all in their homes.”

The students first heard the recording March 9.

“I couldn’t believe how touched they were,” Harrison said.

Stewart called it “the sound of a choir. “They haven’t had that experience of a full choir for a year.”

Both teachers feel the experience will stay with the students for a long time.

Harrison said the project is a great example of how the students were able to overcome adversity.

“They are never going to forget it,” Stewart said. “It means so much to them.”

This story was originally published March 18, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Olathe middle school singers reach national audience with ‘The Soul Behind the Eyes’."