Performing Arts has been an essential part of the Fort Collins High School landscape for over 120 years, and while we proudly carry that tradition in our hearts, we move forward every season in the bright spirit of discovery. Each year, FCHS is proud to perform musicals, plays, concerts, and numerous other events in both our 723 seat McNeal Performing Arts Center with its professional fly-system and our intimate 90 seat Black Box Theater. In the classroom, FCHS houses six choirs, four bands, four orchestras, a chamber music program, AP Music Theory, Beginning and Advanced levels of Piano and Guitar, History of Rock and Roll, Unified Music, and numerous Acting and Tech Theater courses, giving students a program with diverse opportunities and exponential growth. Join us this season as a new member of our century old family!
Performing Arts Team
Gina Bliss
Associate Director of Bands
[email protected] / (970) 488-8239
Glesse Collet
High Strings Tutor
[email protected] / (970) 488-8239
Anna Hermanson
Collaborative Pianist
[email protected] / (970) 488-8239
Anna Hermanson joined the FCHS Performing Arts Department in 2014. Originally from Nebraska, Anna received her Bachelor of Arts in Piano Performance from John Brown University in 2013, and moved to Northern Colorado the following summer. Anna enjoys using her piano skills to support her amazing colleagues and music students both in the choir classroom and in the music theater program. Some favorite FCHS music memories include shows like The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Company, Les Miserables, and Songs for a New World, multiple CMEA performances with Canta Bella and A Cappella choirs, and our international music department trips to Europe and Australia. Outside of FCHS, Anna accompanies for a local voice studio, an elementary school choir, and various honor ensembles including the PSD Treble Choir Festival and Colorado All State Choir. She also maintains a private piano studio where she enjoys passing on her love of piano to young students.
John G. Hermanson
Director of Orchestras
[email protected] / (970) 488-8239
John Hermanson has been the Director of Orchestras since 2013. He holds a Bachelor of Music Education, a Bachelor of Music Performance, a Master of Conducting, and a Master of Education degree, all from Colorado State University. He is a past chair of Colorado All State Orchestra and Chair of the Colorado ASTA Large Group Orchestra Festival. He has also served on the CMEA Instrumental Music Council. His ensembles consistently receive superior ratings at state festivals and have a long history of invitations to perform at state and national festivals and abroad. In 2024, the FCHS Symphony Orchestra was one of seven orchestras in the country invited to perform at the Music for All Festival in Indianapolis, IN. In 2016 and 2018 the FCHS Symphony Orchestra and Tower Orchestra performed at CMEA. FCHS Orchestras have also toured in Australia, Austria, and the Czech Republic. Many students audition and are accepted to Colorado All State Orchestra and the Western States Honor Orchestra Festival on an annual basis.
Heidi Mausbach
Low Strings Tutor
[email protected] / (970) 488-8239
David D. Miles
Director of Bands
[email protected] / (970) 488-8247
A 1995 graduate of Fort Collins High School, David D. Miles has taught instrumental music since 2004 and has been at FCHS since 2006. He directs the Symphonic Band, Concert Band, Intermediate Band, Jazz Band, Jazz Combo, Dixieland Jazz Band, Pep Band, teaches Unified Music, Tower Winds, and a Music Production & Technology course. He holds a Bachelor of Music Education and a Masters of Music in Instrumental Conducting from Colorado State University. Mr. Miles has performed trombone with the John Phillip Sousa National High School Honor Band, the Fort Collins Symphony Orchestra, the Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra and the Dallas Brass. He currently performs with the Fort Collins Wind Symphony under the direction of Dr. Rebecca Phillips and the Colorado Brass Company Brass Quintet.
Andraya Perron
Co-Director of Choirs
[email protected] / (970) 488-8171
Andraya Perron has been teaching music since 2015. She currently co-directs the choirs, teaches piano, and vocal directs the musicals at FCHS. Originally from Minnesota, she graduated from Concordia College with a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Music Education. While at Concordia, she was assistant conductor of the Concordia Choir under the direction of Dr. Rene Clausen. Andraya is the Combined League Honor Choir Chair and co-founder of NOCO Singers. An active performer, she has sung with Opera Fort Collins, Opera Fairbanks, Fargo-Moorhead Opera, Chicago Chamber Choir, Rocky Mountain Chamber Singers, and others. Andraya has received the Top of Thompson award from the Thompson School District and her students’ work has been nominated for multiple Bobby G Awards.
Joseph Perron
Co-Director of Choirs
[email protected] / (970) 488-8171
Amie Tyler
Choreographer
[email protected] / (970) 488-6743
Jason Tyler
Director of Tower Theater
[email protected] / (970) 488-8238
Jason Tyler has been Director of Tower Theater since 2005. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in English and a Master of Arts in Literature, Composition, and American Theater, both from the Univeristy of Northern Colorado. He is CTE and FRCC Concurrent Enrollment Certified, is Coordinator of Young Writers Programming with the National Writing Project at Colorado State University, and is a member of the National Theatre Cohort with New York's Connected Arts Networks. He has been awarded the Mary Hull Integrated Services Collaborative Award, Fort Collins Rotary Club Teacher of the Month, and Poudre School District's Teacher of the Year. Under his direction, Tower Theater has been awarded the Colorado Thespians Troupe Spotlight, Colorado Thespians Mainstage Selection, and, since 2016, five wins and twelve nominations with Colorado's Bobby G Awards.
Associate Director of Bands
[email protected] / (970) 488-8239
Glesse Collet
High Strings Tutor
[email protected] / (970) 488-8239
Anna Hermanson
Collaborative Pianist
[email protected] / (970) 488-8239
Anna Hermanson joined the FCHS Performing Arts Department in 2014. Originally from Nebraska, Anna received her Bachelor of Arts in Piano Performance from John Brown University in 2013, and moved to Northern Colorado the following summer. Anna enjoys using her piano skills to support her amazing colleagues and music students both in the choir classroom and in the music theater program. Some favorite FCHS music memories include shows like The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Company, Les Miserables, and Songs for a New World, multiple CMEA performances with Canta Bella and A Cappella choirs, and our international music department trips to Europe and Australia. Outside of FCHS, Anna accompanies for a local voice studio, an elementary school choir, and various honor ensembles including the PSD Treble Choir Festival and Colorado All State Choir. She also maintains a private piano studio where she enjoys passing on her love of piano to young students.
John G. Hermanson
Director of Orchestras
[email protected] / (970) 488-8239
John Hermanson has been the Director of Orchestras since 2013. He holds a Bachelor of Music Education, a Bachelor of Music Performance, a Master of Conducting, and a Master of Education degree, all from Colorado State University. He is a past chair of Colorado All State Orchestra and Chair of the Colorado ASTA Large Group Orchestra Festival. He has also served on the CMEA Instrumental Music Council. His ensembles consistently receive superior ratings at state festivals and have a long history of invitations to perform at state and national festivals and abroad. In 2024, the FCHS Symphony Orchestra was one of seven orchestras in the country invited to perform at the Music for All Festival in Indianapolis, IN. In 2016 and 2018 the FCHS Symphony Orchestra and Tower Orchestra performed at CMEA. FCHS Orchestras have also toured in Australia, Austria, and the Czech Republic. Many students audition and are accepted to Colorado All State Orchestra and the Western States Honor Orchestra Festival on an annual basis.
Heidi Mausbach
Low Strings Tutor
[email protected] / (970) 488-8239
David D. Miles
Director of Bands
[email protected] / (970) 488-8247
A 1995 graduate of Fort Collins High School, David D. Miles has taught instrumental music since 2004 and has been at FCHS since 2006. He directs the Symphonic Band, Concert Band, Intermediate Band, Jazz Band, Jazz Combo, Dixieland Jazz Band, Pep Band, teaches Unified Music, Tower Winds, and a Music Production & Technology course. He holds a Bachelor of Music Education and a Masters of Music in Instrumental Conducting from Colorado State University. Mr. Miles has performed trombone with the John Phillip Sousa National High School Honor Band, the Fort Collins Symphony Orchestra, the Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra and the Dallas Brass. He currently performs with the Fort Collins Wind Symphony under the direction of Dr. Rebecca Phillips and the Colorado Brass Company Brass Quintet.
Andraya Perron
Co-Director of Choirs
[email protected] / (970) 488-8171
Andraya Perron has been teaching music since 2015. She currently co-directs the choirs, teaches piano, and vocal directs the musicals at FCHS. Originally from Minnesota, she graduated from Concordia College with a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Music Education. While at Concordia, she was assistant conductor of the Concordia Choir under the direction of Dr. Rene Clausen. Andraya is the Combined League Honor Choir Chair and co-founder of NOCO Singers. An active performer, she has sung with Opera Fort Collins, Opera Fairbanks, Fargo-Moorhead Opera, Chicago Chamber Choir, Rocky Mountain Chamber Singers, and others. Andraya has received the Top of Thompson award from the Thompson School District and her students’ work has been nominated for multiple Bobby G Awards.
Joseph Perron
Co-Director of Choirs
[email protected] / (970) 488-8171
Amie Tyler
Choreographer
[email protected] / (970) 488-6743
Jason Tyler
Director of Tower Theater
[email protected] / (970) 488-8238
Jason Tyler has been Director of Tower Theater since 2005. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in English and a Master of Arts in Literature, Composition, and American Theater, both from the Univeristy of Northern Colorado. He is CTE and FRCC Concurrent Enrollment Certified, is Coordinator of Young Writers Programming with the National Writing Project at Colorado State University, and is a member of the National Theatre Cohort with New York's Connected Arts Networks. He has been awarded the Mary Hull Integrated Services Collaborative Award, Fort Collins Rotary Club Teacher of the Month, and Poudre School District's Teacher of the Year. Under his direction, Tower Theater has been awarded the Colorado Thespians Troupe Spotlight, Colorado Thespians Mainstage Selection, and, since 2016, five wins and twelve nominations with Colorado's Bobby G Awards.