Fort Myers High School Choral Department

Greenwave Singers is a 40 voice mixed choir, and the top choir at Fort Myers High School.  In their inaugural year they received Superior performance ratings at the Florida Vocal Association Music Performance Assessment.  The compositions performed were Ave Verum Corpus by William Byrd and Love is Life by Jackson Hill.  At the 2011 Prism Concert they performed Handel's Hallelujah Chorus, Toto's Africa, and Because by The Beatles.

In 2011-2012, Greenwave Singers will be preparing works by Bach, Mozart, and Mendelssohn as well as works by contemporary composers Ola Gjeilo, Blake Henson, and a commissioned work by David Das.

Fermata is open to female students by audition only. Students will continue to expand their knowledge of ensemble singing, vocal technique, music reading, theory, and harmonization. They will participate in the Choral Music Performance Assessment in early spring (see handbook for more details). This choir will also participate in all Choral Department concerts. Fermata has consistently received straight superior ratings in performance and sight reading from the District 11 Music Performance Assessment. They also presented the World Premiere performance of "Annie Laurie" by Peter Fischer, and commissioned a treble arrangement of the song collection "Not About Cheese" by Robert Convery.  

Soundwave is a female show choir that is open to all students who have successfully completed an audition.  Selections include current pop hits and a cappella music.  This ensemble performs frequently throughout the community as well as at all Choral Department concerts.

Everybody Can Sing!

Vocal Workshop is the beginning choir at Fort Myers High School. This ensemble is open to all students. No prior musical experience or knowledge is required. The student will be introduced to the basic choral techniques necessary to perform in an ensemble. Topics shall include but not be limited to: vocal warm-ups, introduction to music reading, basic musicianship, music theory, harmonization, breathing, posture and performance standards. Vocal Workshop will prepare students so that they have an opportunity to audition for one of our advanced groups. This group will perform at all Choral Department concerts. Repertoire will be selected each year based on the students in the class.

An all male vocal ensemble, Noteworthy is prepared to woo the ladies with songs like Under the Boardwalk, Pretty Woman, Kiss the Girl, As Long As We've Got Each Other, and many more!  

NEW FOR 2011-2012!

Chamber Choir is a co-ed, auditioned, extracurricular ensemble.  They perform a wide range of music ranging from renaissance madrigals to vocal jazz and pop a cappella.  Chamber Choir meets one or two days a week after school.  

A highly acclaimed choral and instrumental conductor, Mr. Koller has led ensembles which have been praised with comments such as "the voices and diction were sheer perfection" and "as professional a student orchestra as I have had the pleasure to hear."  A New Jersey native, Mr. Koller received the Paper Mill Playhouse Rising Star Award in Outstanding Musical Direction for the Watchung Hills Regional High School production of Jekyll and Hyde in 2002. In 2003 Mr. Koller was nominated for the same award for the WHRHS production of Godspell. This is an extreme honor as 110 high schools in the state participate annually.

At Fort Myers High School, Mr. Koller and his ensembles Greenwave Singers, Fermata, Soundwave, Chamber Choir, and Vocal Workshop enjoy performing frequently throughout the community. All choirs have consistently earned Superior ratings at the annual music performance assessment.

Mr. Koller earned his B.M. in music education from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ. He has participated in choral and opera performances throughout the United States and Italy. He has sung with The Philadelphia Orchestra, The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, The Spoleto Festival Orchestra, and The New York Philharmonic with whom he had the opportunity to record Brahms' Ein Deutsches Requiem and Schicksalslied, Bach's Saint Matthew Passion, and Honnegger's Jeanne d'Arc au Bucher. 

Finally, Mr. Koller's other full time job is that of husband and father to his beautiful family: Christy, Christian, and Savannah.