In Sedalia: Sacred Heart’s Darrin Hartman leads the choir to sing as one

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Darrin Hartman is the choir director at Sacred Heart School and has lived in Sedalia his whole life.

His appreciation for music began early in life and, fostered by his parents, Hartman has made it the focus of his career.

“I started taking lessons when I was about five,” Hartman said. “I received a piano as a gift from my parents for Christmas, a little toy piano, and it all begin there.”

Hartman has now been working at Sacred Heart for 13 years and his musical influence affects every student at the Catholic school.

“I teach liturgical music, I teach music appreciation, junior high choir and then music K-12,” Hartman said. “So some general music courses in there, too. We’re fortunate to have the Barbara Lamy Cooney Piano Lab, and we do some work in there, too.”

Choral students quickly learn to sing together under Hartman’s instruction hone their skills and before long are  “harmonizing together.”

“We kind of start out singing two parts and then eventually we get into three and four parts,” Hartman said. “We have we have a really good number this year of about 40 high school students in the choir program. We really start in junior high with adding harmony, to the choral parts; it’s something we’re continually working on. Students who start off in choir typically stay with it through their senior year, so they seem to enjoy it.”

With Sacred Heart being a private Catholic school, Hartman’s students are encouraged to explore their spiritual voices while singing liturgical music.

“We get to sing some contemporary Christian songs. We have something called XLT adoration where students solo once a month in the Sacred Heart Chapel during class and for other students to hear,” Hartman said. “It’s rewarding to see some elementary students hear high school students sing and see the high school students share their faith through the gift of music.”

Hartman was named Sacred Heart Teacher of the Year for 2019 and is a favorite among students for his good nature and musical genius.

Besides singing in practice and weekly at Mass, Hartman makes sure the choir gets out and sings for the public.

Those lucky enough to hear Hartman and his Sacred Heart students perform are be treated to wonderful singing from dedicated students and their talented teacher.

“It’s very rewarding to see the student’s potential here,” Hartman said. “Just very rewarding. To me, Sacred Heart is just the best place. I just love working with the students and seeing them express and grow in their faith through the love of music.”

This article was originally published in the Dec. 3, 2024, edition of the Sedalia Democrat (sedaliademocrat.com) and is republished here with permission.

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