Orchestra teachers Nick Gaudette and Jack Reynertson are closing a chapter of their musical journey here at Edina High School.
Nick Gaudette has been at Edina for 10 years out of his 20-year-long career teaching orchestra. He was originally a performance major, performing on cruise ships and going coast to coast. Gaudette saw an opening for a specific type of teacher who was also a performer at St. Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists (SPCPA) and decided to apply. He was hired as a substitute for the orchestra teacher, which eventually led him to being offered a full-time position.
Gaudette went on to get his teaching license and spent the first half of his career at SPCPA. He says that there are very few schools that could’ve pulled him away from his position there—Edina being one of them, of course. Gaudette has loved teaching alongside his orchestra colleague, Jack Reynertson, and everybody in the music department at EHS.
Gaudette is also extremely passionate about teaching music and always goes above and beyond for his students.
“He would spend his own money on so many things: orchestra trips, fixing instruments—things the school would put off,” junior John Rogness-Bauer said.
The other half of the orchestra department is losing Jack Reynertson. He has served Edina for five years, and students are sad to see him go so soon.
Reynertson said that seeing the kids he started with as freshmen flourish as seniors now in Varsity and Symphonia Orchestra makes him sentimental, and that he is blessed to grow as a teacher while seeing them grow as musicians.
“Personally, it’s kind of sad. It’s weird to think that I started with him, and now we’re leaving at the same time,” senior Cambrie French said.
Reynertson joined Edina after one year of teaching in the Burlington School District in Wisconsin. He fell in love with orchestra in high school. Surprisingly, his main talents aren’t in orchestra instruments but in piano and percussion. He became interested in the strings in college and started picking up string instruments during the pandemic, starting with the viola and the violin. Seeing schools in need of a string teacher is when he started teaching orchestra and never looked back.
Reynertson is leaving Edina to pursue his masters in orchestral conducting at the University of Minnesota. To Reynertson, it’s bittersweet to say the least, but it’s time to explore something new for a few years.
Gaudette, on the other hand, is leaving to explore other opportunities.
“The process of teaching is great for any artist; it makes you stay true to your craft. There’s no better way for me to become a better player than for me to share with others how they can be the best players they can be,” Gaudette said.
Reynertson wants to be remembered as a teacher who helped in small ways. He hopes students remember the time he took to see them for who they truly are. Reynertson hopes they remember what he really cares about: musical excellence and community.
Gaudette’s leaving is a way that he can balance his own artistic self.
“I’m excited. I’m scared but excited. But I do know that if I believe and follow that process, I will find success.”
This piece was originally published in Zephyrus’ print edition on May 19, 2026
