Bryan Kunstman is widely known in Kaneland High School for his work as the choir director. He teaches freshman and sophomore choir classes, directs the audition choirs Madrigals and Bella Voce, and acts as the voice director for the spring musical. He is even the department chair for the fine arts. But Kunstman’s talents are not limited to music.
Kunstman is also someone who enjoys sports. Back in high school, he played many sports, such as baseball, track, hockey, and football. His high school hockey team won the founder’s cup, and his travel team won third in state. He played hockey in college as well, placing 8th in nationals his junior year. Though, this isn’t what Kunstman is known for in Kaneland.
Music has always been a part of Kunstman’s life. When he was three, his dad started him on piano lessons. In elementary school, his music teacher would always encourage him to sing and share his music. In middle school, his dad compelled him to be a part of choir. At the time, he hated music, preferring to spend his time outside playing sports. Once he entered high school, others continued to encourage him to sing. His choir teacher pulled him aside to praise his singing abilities and recommended he pursue music as a career.
Until that point, he had thought of himself as an average member of the choir. This teacher, however, opened Kunstman’s eyes to the possibilities of what he could do with music in the future. “[I] eventually realized that if music wasn’t a part of my life, I would likely not be as fulfilled,” Kunstman said. He majored in music education in college, participated in audition choirs and eventually became a music teacher. “His whole life, music is the one constant, driving force behind almost everything he does,” Kunstman’s wife, Mary Kunstman, said. “You can’t separate Bryan from music. It’s a part of who he is, ingrained in his personality, and something he’s always been very passionate about.”
Teachers shaped Kunstman’s life growing up. Teachers encouraged him to share his music, and coaches helped him similarly. Through school and sports, he was able to get opportunities like travelling that he wouldn’t have gotten otherwise. He became a teacher to be able to give those opportunities to the students.
Currently, Kunstman is a part of the professional choral group St. Charles Singers, which his wife is also a part of. The group performs throughout Chicago, in various churches and occasionally outside of the country. Through St. Charles Singers, he has had many opportunities for solos and travels that he wouldn’t have gotten the chance to experience otherwise. “As a teacher, being able to stay in touch with what made you passionate about your subject keeps you passionate about it when you’re teaching, and hopefully will transfer to the students,” Kunstman said.
Traveling is an important part of Kunstman’s life. As a kid, his family couldn’t afford to travel, so he was always grateful for opportunities through school and sports. “We learn so much through travel… I wouldn’t substitute it for anything. I think it’s one of the biggest things I try to make sure students at Kaneland have an opportunity to do,” Kunstman said. He has travelled to many places, both with his students and with the St. Charles Singers. Some of these places include England, Scotland, Ireland, Spain and Portugal. Last year, he and the Kaneland choirs visited Latvia, Estonia and Finland.
The Kaneland choir sang in Finland around the time the war in Ukraine began. As Finland is near Russia and is one of its former territories , there were echoes from those in attendance of “that could have been us” around the country. Kunstman could feel the fear that residents had at this time. Music was able to bring people together, and both the singers and those in attendance were appreciative. . When they sang in Tartu, Estonia, soldiers from Ukraine training there with American soldiers came to watch their performance. They were moved to tears by the performance.
Not only were members of the audience impacted by the performance, but the students were as well. “I love seeing [the students’] reactions when they are able to see how much other people appreciate their music,” Kunstman said. “I love being able to see students recognize that other people are moved by [their] music… As a musician, any time you can evoke emotion from the audience through music lets you know that you’ve made a connection with them, so for me seeing that happen for the students, seeing their reaction to how powerful music can be is really, really cool.”
Beyond providing students with these opportunities, Kunstman has helped them to develop their singing skills. “Singing is such a personal thing,” English teacher and theater director Rachel Giles-Bachman said. “You can train your voice as much as you want, but you can’t change the way your voice sounds. He allows them to not only find their singing voice but grow in confidence in what that sounds like. That transfers into those students being more confident in who they are in general.”
According to a previous student of his, Kunstman has always been a passionate teacher. “That rigor that we talk about now, he’s always had,” English teacher and assistant theater director Christina Staker said. Staker was a student of Kunstman’s during his first year of teaching, and they are currently coworkers. When she heard that there would be a new choir teacher, she initially thought that he would be a pushover. This was far from the truth. Kunstman was confident and established his place at Kaneland. He still held on to past school traditions, though, which Staker admired.
“The fact that we have so many kids going on to continue music after high school speaks numbers to who he is,” Staker said.
