Both the restroom next to the office, and the one directly above it, treat visitors to an auditory adventure, courtesy of many of the greatest classical composers in western history. One might wonder at the reason for this touch of sophistication, but the answer is not well known.
Mr. Scheer, the IT support specialist, controls the music. When I walked into his office, I passed many high-tech gadgets, monitors, and computers. However, one device looked out of place. Looming above the office is a small MacBook Air at least ten years old. The screen displayed an album cover of a fourteen hour Chopin compilation. This is the master control of the entire bathroom playlist.
“Usuallly,” said Mr. Scheer, “[YULA] tells me to look for something and I download it off of YouTube.” This year he has downloaded a combination of classical and elevator music: works from Bach, Mozart, Chopin and The Beatles (instrumental versions). One can hear Bach’s “Inventions,” Mozart’s “Jupiter Symphony,” and “Hey Jude,” on a single visit to the lavatory.
Students who may have just received a lousy grade on a test or been cut by a sports team, can be soothed by these therapeutic facilities. Chopin’s invigorating piano works are among the bathroom’s most frequently played compilations. (For those who would like to experience the YULA bathroom at home, the Brilliant Classics channel on YouTube provides the same playlist.) The compilation includes Chopin’s Études, Ballades, and Polonaises, familiar to any student of piano (or someone who spent five hours on the phone with Verizon). These pieces are known for showcasing the technique of the player and for their melodious lightheartedness.
“From the bathroom music playlist my favorite pieces are Chopin’s Nocturnes and Liszt’s Liebestraum No. 3 and Bach’s Badinerie,” said Sam Kiss, an eleventh grader and former member of the school band. Badinerie is a light-hearted flute piece with the Baroque composer’s characteristic repetitions. Liszt’s Liebestraum showcases Liszt’s piano virtuosity with the emotion of the Romantic period.
Senior and long-time pianist, Gabriel Sokolov, particularly enjoys listening to Chopin’s Fantaisie Impromptu in the bathroom. “If someone can play it, you know they have been playing for a long time,” he said. “The timing is different in both hands. It’s sort of multi-tasking, and you appreciate the piece even more if you hear it.”
Many students benefit from the playlist while expressing uncertainty as to whether it meaningfully alters the vibe at school. “I don’t think the music enhances the bathroom experience but it definitely makes it interesting,” Kiss said.
On the same note, Sokolov said that the music “definitely makes the bathroom more interesting, but that’s a weird thing to say about a bathroom. In some sense, I feel like it gives the bathroom an ominous vibe, but to me it would seem the same with or without it. It’s a unique thing at YULA.”
Although students may take the restroom music for granted, or just think nothing of it, the question still remains: why did YULA set up music in the bathrooms? Shockingly, the answer is not that Chopin is fun to listen to, nor that everyone loves elevator music with a passion. The actual reason for the music is pedagogical.
“The music started when I started out as Head-of-School, so, say 10 years ago,” Rabbi Sufrin, Head of School, told me. “At YULA we view everything as a learning opportunity, including Kavod Habrius,” referring to the concept in the Gemara of maintaining dignity in your environment.
However, I was still pressed by one question: Why classical? Would the bathroom hold less dignity and cleanliness if Mozart was substituted for Travis Scott? “Classical is more relaxing, more calming,” Rabbi Sufrin told me. In addition to making the bathroom experience more pleasant, Classical music also subdues students making the environment more refined.
Although music can’t unclog toilets, it can refresh the mind. The YULA Boys bathroom music serves as both an enjoyable feature, and a useful tactic, pacifying students just enough to keep the restrooms orderly. As Mr. Scheer put it, “Music soothes the savage beast.”
This storyr, which won JSPA’s 2026 Grand Prize in Jewish Scholastic Journalism, appeared in YULA’s Panther Post on Nov.5, 2025.
