Portage High School choir director Jordan Dollins is accustomed to writing musical arrangements for friends. Now, however, he’s written a song anyone can sing.
Dollins wrote his arrangement of “I’ll Tell Me Ma,” an Irish folk tune, for his husband, a middle school music teacher, to use for his choirs. His husband wanted something fun and upbeat for kids.
“It’s the Irish version of a kids play song,” Dollins said. The boys in town wonder who the new girl, the prettiest girl in town, is.
It was 10 years ago that Dollins wrote the song, but now it has been published by ICC Publishing House and performed recently by the Indianapolis Children’s Choir Master Chorale, a high-school-aged choir considered one of the best youth choirs in the United States.
When ICC Publishing House published his piece in 2023, Dollins was over the moon. “That was the first thing I ever had published, so people I don’t know can buy my music,” he said.
He worked with that choir in January, for an afternoon, to give suggestions of what he heard in his head versus what he heard them sing.
At a reception for the event, Dollins spoke with fellow composers about pieces they wrote, then “sat down and watched a pretty fantastic concert.”
“It was really special to be able to hear that for the first time with such a spectacular performance,” he said.
“I started writing my own music in high school,” about 20 years ago, Dollins said. He entered some contests in high school, which gave him a confidence boost.
Although Dollins has written arrangements for various musical groups, none of his works had been published before.
“As a choir director, I know that sometimes the printed stuff out there is great for some groups out there, but that group is not my group,” he said.
“For my concert choirs, I will do some arrangements if necessary,” Dollins said. Right now, he’s working on two or three other arrangements, which helps him “flex some muscles a bit, keep being fresh.”
Portage High School’s choirs do very well in Indiana State School Music Association contests, he said, with the concert choirs consistently getting gold ratings for years now.
The show choir has been winning gold awards during his entire tenure at PHS, he said.
Dollins credits the elementary and middle school music education students receive at Portage for helping him build strong choirs.
He spoke about being married to a fellow music teacher. “Sometimes all that we do is talk about music and work, and some days I need to talk about anything else,” he said. It’s nice being able to bounce ideas off somebody who gets it, he said.
In his car, though, Dollins turns off the music. He listens to podcasts or silence after hearing music all day.
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
