Ave Maria, The Irish Blessing, At Last, Leaving on Jet Plane and Thunder Road. These are some of her favorite songs.

For 33 years, Choir Director Lauren Voight has been teaching in the Warren Hills Regional School District. 

Voight’s main job is high school choral program director, but throughout the years she has also been the middle school choral program director, guitar, piano and fundamentals of music  instructor, summer music teacher for the special education extended school year program and musical theater vocal director.  

Voight attended Glen Ridge High School in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, where she joined the small choir that met during lunch. A lot of the students who went to Voight’s high school went on to become professionals in the performing arts, including movie star, Tom Cruise. 

Voight said that with a small choir, she learned how to perform, ultimately becoming a confident singer.

“However, as a small group, we were forced to be independent and confident singers,” she said. “We still performed very difficult music and our musicals were outstanding in quality, despite our smaller program.”

Voight received her  undergraduate degree in Music Education in 1986 from Trenton State College, which is now called The College of New Jersey.  In 1997, Voight earned her masters degree in Gifted Education from the University of Connecticut.

With the range of  jobs Voight has performed throughout her teaching tenure, she said there are two things which have been  a constant source of motivation.

“The pro’s of my work include  my two passions:  music and people.  I never get tired of working on all kinds of music and I love to meet new people and work on projects,” she said. “My work is highly creative and it changes people, not only the students, but the audiences that get to hear the productions. I also love working in a school, I love the atmosphere of learning.”

Voight said that some cons of her work are the long hours of rehearsals that go into the evening and sometimes the weekend.

“It can be tough when you have a family.  Another difficulty is having to prove and advocate that music education is essential for many students because many people think learning to sing and singing in a group is easy and ‘fluff”,” Voight said. “As a vocalist and teacher, my position can also take a toll on my singing voice.  I have to be careful to control the way I am speaking and singing as part of my instruction.”

For anyone who wants to pursue a career in music education, Voight has some advice. 

“I would say be ready for a lot of hard work and ups and downs.  The college program is difficult because you are becoming certified K-12 instrumental and vocal music,” she said. “Make sure you start taking piano lessons as early as possible because it will help you with any job in music.”