The Song of My Life

My story doesn’t start in the hospital with a the radio playing as I am first brought into this world; neither is it a story of a modern day Mozart. It is a story that starts in an elementary school in a city in the small state of Connecticut. It is a story of music becoming the boat on the ocean, the essential part of myself, which without I would drown in the stormy waters of life.

In everyone’s house there is one thing that goes untouched and obsolete, yet it cannot be moved for that would be a change to the “norm”. In my case, this is the CD rack. Rows of CDs, psychedelic Santana box sets, the pure White Album, each a fascinating distraction to the routine of life. One though above the rest intrigued me, The Magical Mystery Tour. Reflecting back on it now it was the colors; the bright yellow was amiss among the dreary blacks, browns, grays. When the first few notes hit my hears, my infatuation with music began. Music is always there, it never leaves, and when you need it the most, it always will help.

My first instrument was the violin. Classical music was the first music I was able to play. Every week I looked to my morning rehearsals with my orchestra instructor. Ever week the gradual improvements, unnoticeable to me, would take place. All of a sudden it was concert time, the thrill of performing, being proud of our hard work. The honest admiration from my parents, the proudness and the love: that is what I looked forward to that was why I loved performing concerts. I will always have that initial love for strings. Even now when I hear any song with a string accompaniment, I get goosebumps.

Time passes, new school, new people, new instrument. Euphonium: coming from two words euphony and harmonium. Euphony: a pleasing sound especially a harmonious one. Harmonium: a keyboard like instrument. Euphonium one of the prettiest sounding, harmonious instruments. In this new school there was not an orchestra, but there was band. There was no way I could cut off my connection to music. Euphonium slowly grew on me and soon I was once again in love with an instrument. Junior Year, I, for the first time played out of a school setting: A room full of enthusiastic semi-professional students all in a band together all wanting to be there! Four hours of playing, practicing, practicing, and practicing some more.