Mr. Antoine Khouri, Orchestra Director on the Fort Lauderdale campus, has loved music since he was a child. His parents and grandparents encouraged him to sing in his church’s choir and begin learning the piano at five years old, with his mother as his teacher.
Picking up a violin for the first time in third grade, he knew immediately it was not for him! “My grandmother bought me a violin and that's how I was introduced to the strings,” Mr. Khouri said. “I didn't like the violin or viola, but I did like the cello and ultimately went for the double bass. That is how orchestra became a part of my life.”
Mr. Khouri didn’t always know that he would be an educator, but he always knew that music was going to be an important part of life.
“When I went to college, I knew I was going to major in music,” he said. “I wasn’t sure what avenue of music I would follow, but I wanted to produce music-—I wanted to be like Quincy Jones! In some aspects, I am a producer of many things. Not just writing music or composing tracks, but a producer of art—a concert, a record, a music video, a musical, or movie. Education started to resonate with me as an undergrad student when I started to teach summer camps at Florida State University. I realized that it was really fun and that I was touching lives.”
Recognizing how difficult it is to break into the music business, Mr. Khouri shared that while he pursued his passion, the desire for a more steady life began to call to him. “It’s hard to break into the music business. You have to sacrifice your whole life until you get a hit record. So, while I was pursuing that, I started a family and decided to find something more stable and consistent. I loved teaching so that is what I did.”
Having spent time teaching at the university level, he found that teaching middle and high school-aged students ignited something in him. “I had just finished an internship and was applying for graduate school when I got a call from a school in need of an orchestra director. I got thrown in and loved it, but I knew that I still wanted to attend graduate school.”
Mr. Khouri did attend graduate school and enrolled in a joint program with Disney Studios. “I enrolled in a music production degree, but it wasn’t just producing music; it was performing arts production. I learned how to produce everything—-live shows, television—-anything you can think of to produce in the arts. I got all of that experience with Disney and then started working full time for three years until I decided to go back to school for my doctoral degree in music composition.”
“When I applied, the advisor I met with recommended another master’s degree in music, one that happened to be more aligned with my interests,” said Mr. Khouri. “It was a media writing production degree. It involved some composition, but media writing production meant learning to compose music for film, television, and radio. Because I was chasing a dream, I was trying to find ways to bring skills back into the classroom, in case the dream didn’t work out. I always thought, ‘if it doesn’t happen for me, I can teach the next generation music technology and maybe one of them will be the next Quincy Jones.’”
One day in 2017, Mr. Khouri received a call from a friend he had gone to high school with, Band Director on our Boca Raton campus, Mrs. Sharon Janezic.
“My wife is in musical theater and we were living in the New York/New Jersey area. I am a Florida guy, and I was dying to get back to some warmth! I got a call from Sharon that Pine Crest was looking for a strings teacher. I sent in my résume, and eventually made my way to Pine Crest in the fall of 2018.”
When Mr. Khouri joined the Fine Arts faculty, he leveraged his love of music production to help build the orchestra program.
“I was asked to come up with a general music course for fourth and fifth grade students on the fence about joining the chorus, band, or orchestra, but who might want to do something else in music. I started teaching music production, which students have really enjoyed. While it is not a general class that students can take as part of their daily schedule, students may sign up for it as a private or semi-private lesson, or during the Pine Crest Summer program.”
When asked what his favorite instruments are to play and teach, Mr. Khouri said that is a trick question. “To be a music educator, you have to learn many instruments. I play several instruments but I wouldn't consider myself a professional in many of them. I can play about 20, but professionally, only three. In reference to teaching, it depends on the music. If my students are playing classical music, I prefer the double bass. If we are playing any other genre, I would say the keyboard is my favorite instrument to play.”
Mr. Khouri continued, saying “In the classroom, I’ve come to realize that I have more enjoyment teaching music production and conducting in the orchestra. That involves teaching students to conduct and demonstrate the technical aspects of music, as well as the score study of what they hear. Teaching has also afforded me the opportunity to take the experiences and skills of the different instruments I play and learn to produce music myself.”
As for navigating the juxtaposition between music production and leading the orchestra, Mr. Khouri said he enjoys all of it. “Fusing both areas is really what I enjoy most. When I can take a piece that a student has produced, or even one that I have created, and our students who sing and/or play an instrument record it, that’s quite rewarding. We have many students in the orchestra who are also in the chorus, so if a student loves to play their instrument, or write and arrange music, and sing, why not join all of those things and encourage them to start recording their musical thoughts? They can play, sing, and actually engineer their own compositions.”
Fine Arts faculty are some of the only teachers on campus who work with students in all three divisions on a weekly basis. Reflecting on what he enjoys most about working with musicians of all ages, Mr. Khouri said that each level has its challenges and perks.
“I knew early on that I wasn’t an elementary school teacher,” he said. “However, when I teach Lower School students privately or in a group setting here at Pine Crest, I love to see how they progress and grow into young adults in the Middle and Upper Schools. It’s really cool! By the time they get to Upper School, I can say ‘I remember you starting here and look at how much you’ve grown!’ The growth is astonishing and so rewarding. The Middle School students know I teach Upper School and they get excited that they can continue with me as they move up.”
As Mr. Khouri closed the conversation, he reflected upon how lucky he feels to be teaching at Pine Crest School. “What I love most about being here is the opportunity to grow,” he said. “Not only as an educator, but also as a program director. The school sees something in me. Their belief in me could turn into something else, and that excites me for the future.”
