Personal Narrative: The Nashville Youth Symphony Program

I have been performing in a symphony orchestra since I was eight. Most kids at the age of eight were skinning their knees on the playground, but I was forming blisters on my fingertips trying to put my finger on the right notes. My God Mother would always tell me, “In order for you to be the best, you have to face your fears.” I didn’t fear performing in front of crowds until I was given the opportunity to be the soloist one evening.

I go to a lot of auditions. Last year, I went to seven. The year before it was five. They’re very important, because I need to get experience auditioning, and I look forward to receiving criticism for the adjudicators. However, one part of auditioning that I’m not used to is failure.

The marching band has also felt like a home away from home. If I wasn’t at home with my parents, I was on the band field. While being in the marching band at my high school, my long-term goal was to become their drum major for my last two years. I wanted to be the drum major that would cause the band members to put every ounce of passion into performing the show. Once I decided this during my freshman year, I put my heart and soul into my band. I stepped up to any work my band director needed help with. Whether it was fundraising or running OMEA (Ohio Music Education Association) events or lining the band field, I was there to show my band director I was ready to be a leader. My setback came when I didn't achieve section leader for the flutes

On Sunday, June 7th, my friend Janie and I were at the Foothill College Music Center at 3:00 pm, getting ready for our final symphony concert. She was playing the piano for the Intro Winds, while I was playing the flute for Wind Ensemble II. Janie was a thin, petite, Chinese girl of only a 5’2” stature and of a mere 108 pounds who was dressed in all black - a black top, black slacks, and black flats. Her eyes were shaped like little crescents and she had a short nose. Her teeth were slightly crooked on one side, but looked fine on the other, with her big buck teeth taking up most of the space in her mouth.

This gave me the chance to redeem myself is how I looked at it. In order for me to be able to compete I have to become more confident in myself. I went to talk to one of the coaches and asked could I be removed from the junior competition, because I wasn’t ready. He told me something I will never forget “you can never doubt how good you are if you are not willing to take the plunge and find out for yourself”. I told him that I would compete, but I have issues with public speaking. He was willing to work with me because he knew and believed that I had great

I attained a want to actually be apart of such an experience. Be apart of music and all the opportunities it offers. Music is what I love and I'm so happy I have chosen this path to journey down. I decided that I was going to make District III and I did exactly what I needed to do. I made a schedule for myself and practiced everyday for a significant amount of time, studied my scales, listened to the orchestrated piece continuously, and received help from various music teachers. Because of the time and work I put in, I have made it into District III as 3rd Chair Bb Clarinet my Junior Year and as 2nd Chair Bb Clarinet my Senior Year. District III has been one of the most amazing and rewarding experiences of my life and I look forward to the festival in January.

“She always carries the violin with her,” chuckled Mr. Mulligan, Kylie’s orchestra conductor from Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra. Wherever Kylie goes, she always travels with her red violin case. “Violin is my life,” Kylie joked.

Have you ever had this kind of experience: You work very hard approach to your goal, and you think that you are ready to face any potential issue, but it unfortunately turns out to be very different than what you thought it would be than what actually happened. This is a lesson I learned from my entry-level music class while I was still a John Jay student.There is a big different between who I am and who I was in few years ago. Unlike now, I am very relaxed and I tend to be more productive and confident when I have to handle multiple things. I used to be very impulsive and a little bit of disorganized. My time management skills were extraordinary terrible, and I could not properly handle the problems by myself. I had a bad temper because I

The competition was fierce. We went back and forth, neck and neck, in and out of the lead the entire time. I was afraid that we would make a mistake and lose. I was on pins and needles. We eventually pulled ahead in the final round to claim victory. After that hard-fought win, my teammates and I realized that we needed to study harder. It was time to get really serious. After that lucky win, we decided to drill more than ever before. We worked longer and harder, so that we could be the best we could be. We took our books to the cafeteria to study during lunches. We sat in the halls before dismissal, studying and quizzing each other. We even studied together on Skype in the evenings after school. Before we knew it, it was time for the semi-final competition. This time we competed against twelve other teams. The questions were tough, but we persevered and finished on top again. We couldn’t believe it. We were going to the

It is in my nature to be highly competitive, and a long time ago, I was considered to be a sore loser. Whenever I would lose anything, even something as little as a classroom kahoot, I would be disappointed or even mad at myself for not being better. Throughout my 3 years at Green Hope, I have taken a step back and realized that this is not the correct way to take a loss. I have realized that this should just be used as motivation for improvement; it is a sign that I need to continue to work at it. This realization has caused my mindset on the importance of failure to change completely, which in turn has allowed me to have a more positive outlook on failure. While this realization was certainly a turning point in my life, it has not been the most important obstacle that I have

“Your audition did not qualify to get in.” Those words destroyed me from the inside, causing me to lose faith in my playing but is also showed me another chance to gain

I moved up to become an Intermediate man in the spring. I then got one new program and switched my juvenile program last year to my new short. Training has been going great- working hard. On the flip side, the first competition was the “Southport Summer Classic.” Unfortunately, I had a lot of doubt in myself as it was the first time going out there. I had 2 main goals in my mind: to break 30 points in short, and 50 points in long. I broke the two goals that I set for myself and got 3rd in short, and 2nd in long. The reason in which why I view this significant is because it really taught me how to not have self-doubt, and also to go for things in competition. In the future, as an intermediate man, I won’t doubt myself, and I will go for things. My coach and I were very pleased with the protocol,

For my first arts experience I chose to attend the Marian University Department of Music Faculty Recital. This production took place on January 24th at 4 pm in the Bishop Chartrand Chapel in Marian Hall. There were 6 performers with the help of Maureen Walton as the accompanist. There were some songs that stood out more than some such as the first piece called Poem.

I had just started practicing a couple months before and I wasn’t as good as everyone else. Just because I wasn’t as good, it didn’t stop me from trying my best. I went out there and tried my best and made sure that we would be able to go as far as I could. When I was in the middle of a game I was going to get a grounder and I had got hit in the face and got a bloody nose and had I had to be taken out of the game. After the game I felt better and continued to keep playing throughout the tournament. Towards the end of the tournament we started winning a lot more and we were able to go to the finals. When we had went to the finals we had played a total of five games that day and were moving onto our sixth games. Everyone was tired and we were about ready to give up. Before the finals we all tried to get pumped up and ready to be able to play out best. When the game ended it was a close match. We had lost by one run. After the game we were all disappointed but were able we were able to get second place out of the World

I once had a teacher who told me, “There are no wrong notes, but how you play them, the feelings you put in and how you play them in time. It’s all about your timing.” This is one piece of advice that has always remained with me, and looking back over the past year, I can see that it adheres to far more than just music.