Senior Tate Rosacker participates in many aspects of Edmond Memorial High School’s Fine Arts programs, including Act II and advanced mixed choir. Rosacker is also a teacher’s assistant for the tenor-bass choir and was previously involved in the EMHS band via the drumline. Rosacker dedicates so much to the music in his life, and, alongside that dedication, he has the determination to provide his own future students with the same passion he has.
“Music is food for my soul,” Rosacker said. “It allows me to express my feelings where words fail to do so.”
Not only has Rosacker taken almost every music class that he can, he has also been continuously involved in many productions put on by EMHS and Cimarron Middle School, where he previously attended. These include musicals, as well as EMHS’s annual “Follies” performances, a school-wide talent show.
“Performing is the best way I know to spread my love of music to others,” Rosacker said. “It would be selfish of me to keep what I love for myself. What’s the fun in that? Music should be shared to provide an emotional gateway for others as well.”
Being a TA for the tenor-bass choir has many responsibilities. Those often include being a part of the choir vocally and learning to obtain the skills to direct the choir himself.
“I am planning on studying music education at OSU in the fall,” Rosacker said. “I hope that through teaching, I can inspire others to love music and provide them with an opportunity similar to what I have for musical development.”
He has shared the occasional responsibility with senior Van Hartman in teaching and directing to acquire skills and eventually become a music director. Rosacker and Hartman are also in the mixed choir and Act II together, so Hartman has had the opportunity to work alongside Rosacker as both a choir member and student choir director.
“He practices harder than anyone I know, especially as he was preparing for his college auditions,” Hartman said. “A lot of people who are as talented as him like to slack off or wait until the last minute because they’re confident that they can do things better than other people, [but] I don’t see that in Tate.”
In this year’s production of “Beauty and the Beast,” Rosacker and senior Connor Halley played the classic “double trouble” duo, in which Rosacker starred as Lumiere and Halley as Cogsworth. In last year’s performance of “The Drowsy Chaperone,” Rosacker and Halley also played the roles of “the Gangsters,” showing that they are often asked to work together.
“I was drawn to how much he [understood] music,” Halley said. “It was fascinating. For as long as I’ve known him, he has always been singing, playing piano, drumming on the table or [showing] any other form of musical expression.”
Halley and Rosacker have known each other throughout high school, first coming into contact with one another in the men’s chorus, and are now in mixed choir and Act II together. After working together so often, Halley and Rosacker have grown to be good friends.
“He is very good at explaining music to people who aren’t very experienced, and in that sense, I think it makes him a great teacher,” Halley said. “He really draws you in and makes it hard not to enjoy music.”
Hartman has noticed something similar. Although Hartman and Halley are currently working with Rosacker in different ways, they see how much Rosacker dedicates to making music his main priority.
“I think music is his life,” Hartman said. “Obviously he has other interests and talents, but for him, in what I’ve experienced, music is embodied in his everyday life.”
Through music, Rosacker has the determination to achieve exactly what he wants in life. Once achieved, he will do everything he can to provide his own students with that same pathway in life. It has been so easily said by those who know him that Rosacker epitomizes dedication and hard work, and seeks out this dream just to inspire others through the magic of music.
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