French Horn, Trumpet, Piano
Julie Haas has loved music for as long as she can remember. At age five she began piano lessons. When she was in 4th grade, all the area 6th grade Jazz band students came to her school and performed, she was impressed with the show and decided she had to join the band! Julie chose to play the clarinet, however, her mother pointed out that due to her braces she should choose a non-reed instrument. In the end Julie chose to play trumpet and quickly made her way to first chair position in the school band.
In 7th grade, Julie’s band teacher asked if any of the trumpet players might be interested in playing the French Horn, which he needed for his 8th grade concert band. Julie raised her hand, and the next thing she knew she was given a horn to practice on over the summer. That turned out to be a pivotal moment in her life, demonstrating her talents and eventually leading to several music scholarships. While playing the horn, Julie maintained her piano and trumpet playing, and added violin.
During high school Julie was in every ensemble, pep band, and musical production available. These experiences taught her the self-discipline, leadership, and teamwork skills that have been an invaluable part of her life since. Julie served as Drum Major for her school’s award-winning marching band her senior year. She was awarded the “Semper Fidelis” award for musical excellence by the US Marines. She played horn in the Golden Youth Symphony. Eventually she was awarded a music scholarship to study Music Education at the Lamont School of Music at the University of Denver.
At DU, Julie played in orchestra, wind ensemble, opera, woodwind quintet, brass quintet, and in many student recitals. She graduated with a Bachelor of Music Education degree. She went on to earn a Master of Arts in Fine Arts in Integrated Arts and Education degree from the University of Montana. She is certified to teach Music K-12 in the state of Colorado. She also holds certificates in the Orff-Schulwerk method from the University of Northern Colorado, and has dabbled with the teachings of Emil Jacques Dalcroze.
Since graduating Julie has learned to play the bagpipes, and played with a couple of area pipe bands. She also continues to play French Horn with the Arapahoe Philharmonic Orchestra. One highlight in her career was performing as part of a brass quintet for Pope John Paul II when he visited Denver.
Currently, Julie teaches general music at Charles Semper Elementary School in Westminster, Colorado. She enjoys teaching many aspects of music, and teaches piano, guitar, recorders, handbells, and drumming, and directs a school honor choir. She is very passionate about teaching music as a performing art. With her 6th graders, Julie teaches a special curriculum developed by the Metropolitan Opera in New York, in which the students create and perform their own original operas - including the music, lyrics, scripts, sets, and costumes. She looks forward to meeting new students, and hopes to pass along to her students the same love of music that was passed down to her from all of the remarkable teachers and colleagues she has had over her career.