Gavin Spencer: Shasta High School Choir

Hitting High Standards and High Notes in the North State

Eighteen years ago, Gavin Spencer left his home state of Oregon and became the director of the established and prestigious Shasta High School choir program in Redding, CA. Deborah Divine, who taught Enterprise High School’s music program for 26 years and now accompanies Shasta High School choirs on the piano, describes the challenge Gavin faced: “When you have to follow a 30-year tradition, how do you make it just as good or better?” Deborah says Gavin approached this intimidating challenge as he approaches everything, with a positive outlook and a determined spirit.

Gavin and his siblings grew up singing but, Gavin says, “I didn’t know I wanted to pursue that as a career until I joined an all-state honors choir during my junior year of high school. The conductor, Anton Armstrong, deeply inspired me. From then on I knew music was my career path.” Music also introduced Gavin to his wife, Michele, who accompanied him on the piano for one of his college scholarship auditions. “I guess you could say it went really well,” he laughs. Today, 25 years later, he and Michele have four children, each with music specialties.

Mike Freeman, who works for the Shasta County Office of Education and whose daughter is Gavin’s student, met Gavin through work, and the two have since become close friends. “Gavin’s got a great sense of humor,” Mike says. “Three out of the five times I have laughed the hardest in my life have been with Gavin. At the same time, he sets a high bar for himself and the kids in his program, and it’s amazing to see the kids rise to it every year.”

Gavin backs his high standards with love and compassion, making sure, he explains, that his students understand the standards exist “for the sake of the team and the music.”

David Fowler, Gavin’s student from 2008-2012, personally attests to Gavin’s powerful blend of high standards and high support. Shyness kept David from pursuing music until he attended a weeklong summer music camp led by Gavin, who encouraged him to enroll in Beginning Choir. From then on, no fear could separate David from music opportunities. During David’s senior year, Gavin recognized his talent for beatboxing (vocal percussion), prompting David to create layered a cappella YouTube videos, which Gavin enthusiastically promoted. Bill Hare, the Grammy-award-winning a cappella producer for Pentatonix and others, discovered David’s talents through these videos and reached out to train David. The connection launched David into a full-fledged music career.

Looking back, David recognizes Gavin’s instrumental role in developing and encouraging him as a musician. “Gavin fosters a calm, positive, non-judgmental environment, which is quite a feat considering his audience is a bunch of insecure teens,” he says. “He knows how to connect with kids emotionally, and that gives him success in creating fantastic choirs; feeling safe and loved dramatically affects their sound.”

Gavin particularly loves directing his choirs in singing spirituals, “Spirituals are from the heart and soul. They’re so powerful that people all around the world love them.” When leading international tours with his students, performing in famous venues like St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, Gavin loves seeing his students’ eyes open to the world while their audience’s eyes open with delight at the music.

In 2017, Gavin became the California Music Educators Northern Section winner. In 2019 he received the award of Shasta County Teacher of the Year. Gavin understands his success does not occur in a vacuum. His team-oriented perspective lends a magnetic humility to his energetic, passionate leadership, uniting current students, alumni, and the community. Even years after graduation, alumni and parents return to support Shasta High choir events. In particular, madrigal alumni reunite after the final Madrigal Dinner performance each year. Mike Freeman says, “The look on Gavin’s face when he sees the generations of madrigal singers standing in a circle and singing their favorite madrigal songs—it’s a lot of love. It’s a legacy. I get choked up just thinking about it.”

When not actively teaching, Gavin enjoys spending time with his family, golfing with his brother, and running or cycling with friends. But his passion for music and positively influencing kids makes him savor school hours just as much as recreation hours. As Mike says, “When I see Gavin at work, I know I’m seeing someone do what he was born to do.”

The mission of our be the change column is to feature community members from the North State who are actively making a difference in community life. If you would like to nominate someone who is making a difference, please write to pn@northstateparent.com.