On this episode of Friday Favorites, for April 7, 2023, host Steve Staruch plays a 2022 recording by the North Dakota State University choirs of Handel’s Messiah, and Les in Golden Valley gets his request for an aria from Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro. Also, Project DJ co-host Jacob Barsness, a music director and choral teacher in Milaca, Minnesota, talks about his experience teaching and his future plans for travel as an avid backpacker.

Barsness is in his second year as the choral teacher and director for grades 7 to 12 in Milaca. He credits his high-school English teacher for instilling in him the desire to excel at teaching.

“When you are vulnerable to students, they become vulnerable to you,” he says, “and you can make something beautiful!”

Barsness also is an adventurer. As an international backpacker, he’s been to several countries in Europe, but also to China, Hong Kong and Japan.