It is the usual scene you notice when walking into the auditorium; students warming up, others trying to rid themselves of pre performance jitters, people setting up the show, but this performance is different. On April 26th, 2024, a performance was held in honor of the man who built the FHS Performing Arts Department, Mr. Pasqule “Pat” Pascaretti.

“Tonight we are going to honor former Fraser High School choir director Pasqule Pascaretti by naming this wing of Fraser High School in his honor,” Mrs. Rorai, a previous English teacher at FHS said. 

   Pasqule Pascaretti was an incredible teacher and mentor that worked at Fraser High School. He was a choir director for 43 years and worked with many of the people that are currently in the Performing Arts department. 

   The night opened with a performance from the FHS Jazz Band. It then continued on with some videos of Mr. Pascaretti and a video performance from FHS Alumni Joshua Coates. Back when Joshua was attending Fraser High School, he was the lead in Mr. Pascaretti’s ambitious production of “The Phantom of the Opera”.  Which has been said by Mrs. Rorai, an FHS alumni teacher, to be “the most ambitions musical that he helped to stage”

   Joshua has since moved on to a broadway career in New York, hence why he was only at this ceremony via video. He is currently performing in the broadway musical “Rock of Ages.” Before his performance, he made sure to mention some nice words about Mr. Pascaretti. 

 “Having Pat in my life has drastically changed my life, both on and off the stage,” Joshua said. 

   Mr. Charland, the current choir teacher, worked with Mr. Pascaretti for most of his schooling. He was taught by Mr. Pascaretti in his high school junior year and was also in Fraser Singers. After this, Mr. Charland moved on to the Metropolitan Detroit Choir which was under the direction of Mr. Pascaratti. 

   He also mentored under Mr. Pascaretti told him about an elementary choir position in Fraser. From this point, Mr. Charland and Mr. Pascaretti were coworkers until Mr. Pascaretti’s retirement. 

   While Mr. Charland mentored under Mr. Pascaretti, he  learned many interesting things about his teaching philosophy. His advice was to have ‘deep pockets.’ When you’re a new teacher, you don’t know much, but as you grow and learn more you can pull from your ‘deep pockets’ and past experiences. 

   For Mr. Pascaretti, the most important thing was his students. He believed that every student had value and worth and made sure to make all his students feel love. 

“Even if you weren’t a music student, he still cared about you and your passions,” Mr. Charland said. 

   Mr. Pascaretti was also a huge advocate for the Performing Arts Department and strived to bring as much life into the program as he could. 

“There was a need for culture, there was a need for expansion of the arts program and Pat had the driving force to say ‘this is the direction we have to take’ and the direction was creating a performing arts program” Mrs. Hagerty, the piano teacher, said.

   Mr. Pascaretti was so passionate about the program and wanted to help students enter this program. While the program was very important to him, his students were always his top priority.

“It was always what was best for kids. That was his number one concern, not what’s best for teachers, not what’s best for himself or even the program, but what was best for kids” Mr. Charland said. 

Mr. Pascaretti even said it himself, “When it comes to music, music is for everyone. From the lowest achieving students to the highest achieving level.” 

   The full performance from April 26th can be found through this link ​​https://vimeo.com/941650874