West Ranch’s award-winning choir has foun
d its new lead under Mr. Kristofer Ornelas, who is gearing up to make this year the choir’s best.
Ornelas, a West Ranch alumnus, has years of experience with choir prior to his return to West Ranch. “I joined the choir here at West Ranch my junior year, composed a piece in my senior year and conducted it in concert,” Ornelas explained. “That was one of the things that really got me in the field, and when I went to college, it was all choir from there. I was all in.”
Mr. Ornelas’ time in West Ranch’s choir inspired him to continue his choir education into college and pursue a career in music, earning his Master’s in Choir after studying at College of the Canyons, Cal State Fullerton and Cal State Los Angeles. His higher education also brought him a newfound love for teaching and educating others. “I was probably 20 or 21 and I was again given the opportunity to compose a song for the choir and then conduct it and teach it,” he revealed. “And every time I taught, I just thought, ‘Wow, this is really fun. I’m good at this.’ I enjoyed it. I like working with people in that way.”
After college, Mr. Ornelas began his teaching journey which has taken him around California, leading choirs in churches, high schools and various local colleges. Now, he finds himself back home continuing his lifelong passion for choir education.
At West Ranch, Mr. Ornelas’ love for choir and helping others seeps into his classes. Choir students have responded enthusiastically to Mr. Ornelas’ teaching style, which maintains professionalism while injecting passion and energy. Sophomore choir student Daniela Dolan explained, “You can tell he knows a lot about what he’s doing; he’s just really educated and he doesn’t want us to stop being good, and he really wants to bring excellence to this choir.” Students like Dolan agree that Mr. Ornelas pushes them to their full potential in order to bring out the best in them.
Mr. Ornelas, being experienced in the world of choir, has big plans for West Ranch, such as wanting to expand the choir and encompass a wider range of choir genres. “The thing I’m most excited about is to add new classes and build the program,” he explained. “Right now, we’ve got one really strong choir, but I’d love to get three at different levels, with different styles. I’d like to start a vocal jazz ensemble, an advanced treble choir and maybe even try some show choir stuff. There’s just a lot more we can do.”
To reach these goals, Mr. Ornelas has already brought change to the choir from the start: “He brought a change culturally in the classroom. He is definitely more strict. Personally, I really like strict teachers, and I think he’s really helping us grow because of that,” Dolan explained.
With his big plans for the future of West Ranch’s choir program, Mr. Ornelas invites students from every background to join in. He expressed, “Choir is first and foremost a community. It’s a family, a group of music lovers and performers of all different genres and backgrounds. What’s cool about choir is we’ve got people from all walks of life. We’ve got football players and cheerleaders, we’ve got baseball players, we’ve got speech and debate kids and chess kids and nerdy gamers and the whole gamut.”
With Mr. Ornelas at the helm, West Ranch’s choir program strives to create an environment of excellence, where students can make lifelong connections and create music that resonates beyond the classroom.
