Artist Spotlight - Mike Schanely
The performing arts community could not function without talented individuals who are literally “behind the scenes” running the technical aspects. Our first Artist Spotlight of 2024 does just that.
Michael Schanely, our February Artist Spotlight, is the Audio-Visual Technician at Watertown Central School District. Because his father was in the military, Mike was born in Germany where he lived for about two and a half years. While there, he reminisced about speaking a strange mix of English and Deutsch due to his English-speaking parents mixed with his German-speaking babysitter.
After Germany, Mike lived in Minnesota where he recalled the fun, but cold, winters. When Mr. Schanely was in elementary school, his family moved to Black River, where he attended Black River Elementary, and then Carthage Middle and High School through graduation.
After school he realized how much he enjoyed working with his hands and became a 12 volt technician. This was his first step towards audio-visual, as he got into working on sound systems for cars, then installing sound systems, data systems, and security cameras in homes.
Eventually, Mike’s companion, Ambur Misercola, who is a teacher at Watertown, told Mike of an opportunity in the AV department, as their long term technician, Phil Towne, was retiring. Mr. Schanely was given the opportunity to shadow Mr. Towne and immediately afterwards, Phil put in a glowing recommendation for Mike. Mike may not have immediately gotten the position, but today, nearly 6 years into the job, it’s clear from his colleagues’ praise and recommendations that he is a great fit.
This month, Mr. Schanely finds himself assisting with the current musical production. During the year, you can find him assisting with the technical aspects of the middle and high school musicals and school concerts. He also has assisted with DPAO concerts that were put on at Watertown High, as well as done videography for Stage Notes productions.
The position of AV Technician has gone through many changes since Mike’s predecessor Phil was first hired. Mike mentioned that the AV club reminisced about having to splice VHS tapes and put them back together in order to edit the tapes. Today, Mr. Schanely’s field looks much different, especially now in the world of live streaming, but it is certainly a challenge that Mike is willing and capable of taking on.
