At the end of my 3rd grade year, my school had all of the students try various instruments and see
how each one felt and played. We went through the wind instruments with the band teacher, the
string instrments with the orchestra teacher, and the percussion instruments with the percussion
instructor. On one of the last days of school, the music teachers came in and handed everyone a
sheet of paper with the instrument they recommended to us. I got the flute.
For our elementary school, students typically (if they chose to) began band and orchestra in
4th grade. We learned the basics and performed simple music as groups. We weren't exactly the
most proficient ensembles, but we did improve through 4th and 5th grade as we continued to play.
I continued to play flute into middle and high school, even participating in Solo and Ensemble,
MSBOA Honors Band, and auditioning for All State. In middle school, I also placed second in the Rachel Stornant Junior Artist Competition.
In high school, I've played flute in a few orchestras and have continued to participate in my
schools band. For my freshamn and sophomore years, I participated in OYO
(see the linked webpage for more details). For my junior and senior year, I switched to
participating in my schools Full Orchestra due to my non-preference with the way OYO ran virtual rehearsals last year.
If I recall correctly, I believe I started private flute lessons in 5th grade. My older sister also played flute, so we had the same teacher. I still play with her today, and I believe that I would not be as proficient in flute as I am today if I had taken lessons from any other teacher. She has pushed me and continues to push me to do my best and take hold of the opportunities presented to me in the flute aspect of my life.
These are from band performances
Here are pictures from my performances
This is me holding the check I received for winning
the Rachel Stornant Junior Artist Competition.
A friend and I played a duet at Solo and Ensemble
Here is a picture of my Solo and Ensemble and Honors Band pins