Gene Schott blares heavy metal music by Queensryche in his office. He’s also the new orchestra conductor at Austin High School.

To many, these music interests may seem like polar opposites; to Schott, they are quite similar.

“A lot of people think these are very different sides of the spectrum,” he said. “I don’t see that at all.”

Guitar riffs and classical melodies are just “two sides of the same coin,” Schott explained.

His taste in music is really a reflection of his career choices — the 38-year-old also moonlights as a bass guitarist in a touring rock band. He prefers to keep the band’s identity a secret from his students, separating his weekday and weekend lives.

A native of Fairmont, Minn., Schott first picked up an instrument in middle school.

“I started playing the cello in sixth grade,” he said. “The only reason is because I had two friends in it.

“I can play them all, but cello is my main instrument,” Schott said.

He also played bass guitar throughout high school, and continued his love for music by touring around the country for five years with the rock band Vendetta.

Wanting to further his education, Schott then enrolled at Minnesota State University, Mankato, where he took general courses until he could determine what avenue of music he wanted to pursue.

“I just didn’t know if I had what it took,” he said of music education, eventually deciding, “I want to conduct.”

He taught for two years in Bemidji, Minn. Then, a friend informed him of a vacancy in the Austin Public School District.

There were few schools that could lure him from the northwoods area, “and Austin was one of them,” he said.

“I’ve known about the Austin string program for years, and it’s one of the best in the state,” he said. Schott applied, not knowing if he stood a chance at the position.

His got his dream job, and now has 104 string students and about 40 to 45 bass and wind students, as well as two chamber groups.

LaFiera focuses on “high end, complex string music,” and the new Obsidian group plays “avant garde and rock arrangements,” like music from Led Zeppelin, Kansas and Queen.

“I’ve wanted to do some more contemporary music, and rock music that has been arranged for a student ensemble,” Schott explained. “My students are very interested in doing something like that.

“I just get to have fun here,” he said.

Schott also oversees trips to the Dorian Music Festival at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa; concerts on Nov. 3 and 5; solo and small ensemble contests in Lakeville, Minn; and a trip to New Orleans in March to perform, sight-see and volunteer with Hurricane Katrina cleanup.

Although usually only large schools have string education, Schott said Austin has boasted “very consistent” participation for many years, which he attributes to quality education by Phil Burkhart and Deb Linness at Ellis Middle School; having “quite a few music teachers in the area”; and the Austin Symphony Orchestra in town. Many schools across the U.S. have been cutting music programs.

“This community has supported string education for years,” Schott said.