Elaine Parrish, former Choral Director at Yuba City High School, has a Bachelor of Music Degree from the University of Pacific, in Stockton, CA. She did graduate work at the University of Southern California, Occidental College, and San Jose, Sacramento, and Chico State Universities. She studied piano and voice for many years and is also a professional bassoonist.

Elaine’s career as a teacher spans thirty-five years and reflects a great diversity in her talent and skills. She first taught in San Joaquin County schools during her last year of college. She taught instrumental music on the elementary level, traveling throughout the county to rural schools. She later became the Choral Instructor at Y.C.H.S. and continued from 1959 to 1976. Her first 10 years on staff, she also taught wind instruments with J. Wilson McRae and strings with Ingrid Gaston. She taught Junior High choral music intermittently and also Orff Schulwerk (classroom music system) from 1976 to 1993. Elaine Parrish, also taught piano and woodwinds privately, also choral music and bassoon at Chico State University. She was on staff for Chico Honor School of Music, Cazadero Music Camp, Pacific Music Camp, Tahoe Music Camp, and Donner Mine Music Camp. She has at one time or another, taught everything from kindergarten to college, but her favorite age is high school. Elaine, is also... a professional "piano tuner"!!

Elaine Parrish has a long history of orchestral performance as a professional bassoonist. She has participated in numerous symphony orchestras throughout the state of California. She is currently involved with a number of them, primarily Cotati Philharmonic, Santa Rosa Symphony, the Napa Symphony, and the Mendocino Music Festival.

Elaine was a ‘favorite’ among her choral students at Y.C.H.S. They liked to tease her as students do with those teachers, who are special to them. A number of her choral students doubled also as band members. Some of them recall the day that Elaine could not find her little VW car. Because her students had wheeled it to the tennis courts at school and physically lifted it over barriers to put it in the center of the courts. Needless the say, she could not get it back out, without the ‘muscular help’ of her young friends!!

In 1968 and 1969, Elaine loaned her colleague, Barrie Wells, her choral room during band class in the afternoons. He had divided the Y.C.H.S. Band into two groups during concert season. The more seasoned players met with Mr. Wells, in Elaine’s choral room to practice daily. While Barrie Wells was busy working with various sections of his band, other students would often be watching Elaine Parrish eating her yogurt behind him, in a corner of the room! It was quite... a fascination!

Elaine Parrish now lives in Sonoma with friends she has known since college! She has a daughter, Andrea, who lives in Berkeley with her husband and two daughters- ages 4 and almost 7. Elaine’s older granddaughter plays violin and the younger one... just "plays"! She has two buddies at home to keep her company, one is named Mousse and the other is Samson... HER CATS! Elaine was also instrumental in the development of "Barrie’s Band", the Alumni Band which will play together the evening of the 2003, Y.C.H.S. Band Reunion.

written by Neva Nix
approved by Elaine