Annabelle Smith
After four years of hard work, diligent practicing, and never-ending passion for music, this year’s senior instrumentalists had their senior recitals on Saturday, May 15th. Alongside Mr. Hollin, I got to talk with Kevin Mitchell, Ana Mooney, Emily Grossman, Caleb Bachtell, Trey Strosnider, Connor Caldwell, and Jake Milburn about their experience at the performance and their time at BISFA.
ANNABELLE: Alright, so before we get started with the questions, I’d like all of you to introduce yourselves and tell us what instrument you play.
KEVIN: I’m Kevin, and I play the violin.
ANA: I’m Ana, and I play the viola.
EMILY: I’m Emily, and I play guitar.
CALEB: I’m Caleb, and I play guitar.
TREY: I’m Trey, I play trombone.
CONNOR: I’m Connor, I play tuba.
JAKE: I’m Jake, and I play the cello.
ANNABELLE: So, for our readers who weren’t able to attend the recitals on Saturday, could you explain what the senior recitals are and how they work?
TREY: Okay, so uh… everyone was just kind of awkwardly staring at me. Okay, so the senior recitals, um, just like many other departments do something big for seniors, um, this was kind of our big farewell, I guess. We all prepared three solo pieces and then an ensemble piece, and then, um, we basically just all showed up, played our pieces, and that was pretty much it.
JAKE: Yeah, uh, most people know senior recitals as something -- as something, like, a conservatory would do. Most music schools have their own junior and senior recitals, and that’s not usually a high school thing but we do that here to show off some of the talent that we have in our classes.
ANNABELLE: That’s great that you all get an opportunity to showcase yourselves at the end of the year like this.
MR. HOLLIN: I’d like to answer that. From a teacher’s perspective, it shows a culmination of four years of study and what they’ve accomplished in their time here.
ANNABELLE: So how do you all thing your performances went?
TREY: Do we want to just go in a circle, or…?
ANNABELLE: Yeah, you can do that.
CONNOR: Kevin!
KEVIN: Yeah, I’m quite happy with my performance. I spent a few months preparing for it, and, um, I think I played at a high level and people said -- some alumni said I’ve matured quite a bit since I first was, like, a freshman. So, yeah, pretty happy about it.
ANA: Kevin’s was really good. (laughter) I liked my performance, I feel like every time you perform you always wish you could do better, but I was happy with how I did. I think it was authentically me and how I perform.
EMILY: Um… I think I had a good performance overall, but I definitely didn’t like how I played my first song ‘cause my hand was shaking so badly, and my dad could see -- he was like “oh my gosh, your hand’s shaking!” But, after I got my nerves under control I thought I did pretty well. So, yeah!
CALEB: Um, naturally there’s always room for growth, but I feel as though it was a fairly accurate representation of where I’m at in my playing and I feel like its demonstrated my growth over the last four years, so I’m happy with mine.
TREY: Not to, uh, not to say the same thing over and over again, but -- there were times I made mistakes that I wish I didn’t make, but I know for me it wasn’t just about how I performed, it was about how everyone else performed, and for me it was a really good sense of -- of, uh, brotherhood. I stayed the whole day so I saw all of their recitals and it was, um, it was amazing and I think I did well personally.
CALEB: Agreed.
CONNOR: Um, well, I feel like I did okay. Definitely room to improve. Other than that, I feel like after everybody got over the first piece of, like, nervousness, everybody started feeling better and we started getting to where we needed to be. Other than that, just, room to improve for me.
JAKE: Yeah, yeah, I agree with Connor on -- with the fact that the first minute or so, with my playing, is always going to be some of the shakiest. And I, like, my first piece was a little bit shaky but after a little bit I started getting comfortable with, um, the music, and I started getting into the music and I feel like the rest was just that.
ANNABELLE: That’s great! So how long did you all prepare for these recitals and what was that process like?
KEVIN: Okay, yeah. So I spent, like, probably since January, around a few months, and I have a private teacher so we worked on my pieces a lot, the three pieces I prepared. Yeah, um, that’s just kind of my process. A lot of practice.
JAKE: Yeah, it really depends on the piece, because I, uh, like one of the pieces that I was playing -- the duet with Caleb and I -- I’ve been planning on playing that duet with him since before these restrictions were lifted. I found the duet online and I was like, “I want to do this!” But, I wasn’t unable to do until like a year and a half, two years after. But one of my pieces, I started it in, I think March, so, um, that was like, that took me like three months. So, it really depends on which piece that I played. It was between two years and three months of practice.
ANA: Um, I was practicing for a while, since January -- one of my pieces I played for my college auditions, so I had that prepared since, like, the beginning of the year. I did a lot of listening to how other people performed it and how I thought it should sound, and I, um, part of preparing for the recital was really a mental part, and preparing for… the recital. (laughter)
EMILY: So, I had my pieces since January, and then, um, my one piece I only had for like, three months which was really interesting because you want more time to work with your pieces, so that’s definitely nerve-wracking. But, um, I also think that’s the reason I feel that I could have done better, if I had more time with my piece, because I was really focusing on the two that I had in January. So, yeah!
CALEB: I mean, I’d have to agree with Jake mostly. It’s a culmination of different processes over a long span of time, sometimes a shorter span of time. So, aside from the duet there’s some pieces I’ve been working on for most of the year, others -- a different one I got maybe three months ago. That seems to be about the range of preparation. Really, it’s about how much work you put into it, not how long you’ve had it, so it varies from person to person.
TREY: Yeah, I just want to go back to what Jake was saying. I -- some of the pieces I played were kind of familiar to me, um, one of them I did for college auditions so I started that towards the beginning of the year, and another one I did for my junior recital last year, but I played it on a different instrument this time. So I kind of already knew, like, how it was going to go, it’s just transferring that to a different instrument -- that took time. And then my last piece, I probably had a couple months on, my but lesson teacher introduced me to it before then so I was already somewhat familiar with it. So it really just depends on how familiar I was with the pieces, and once I kind of knew what I was playing, I just went from there.
CONNOR: Um, I just got my piece like a month and a half ago -- (laughter) -- and I’ve just been practicing it a lot, so, other than that, that’s about it for me.
ANNABELLE: So, moving away from the recitals themselves, I have a few questions for you that are more senior-specific. In what ways do you think you’ve seen yourselves grow as performers and as musicians these last four years?
CONNOR: I guess I’ll go first for this --
TREY: Yeah, Connor!
CONNOR: -- so, um, I came in and barely knew how to play my instrument completely, and I would just love to say, and give a thanks to Mr. Hollin for how much he’s done for me, because without him I wouldn’t have grown to the musician or the performer that I am right now. It was just, it was really hard, but as I got into the groove of what I needed to do and got through COVID and came back in here and had help from my peers and things that like, I would just say that this is like, probably the perfect opportunity I could have had to made a perfect musician and things like that. Just, loved it.
JAKE: Um, I think that not only did I grow more on a technical ability, I think the main highlight on the difference between what I was freshman year and what I am now is how much I’ve grown on an artistic standpoint. I feel like I’ve learned to understand music and what it is, and not just play notes on a paper, but understand how it’s supposed to be interpreted. And, just, try to, like, put yourself within the music that you play. I feel like, between freshman me, who’s pretty much just reading notes on a paper, and now, there’s just so much of a difference. I love looking back and seeing that.
TREY: I definitely have to agree. There’s just so much of a difference between just reading the notes and playing them and actually making music. I think something that’s definitely encouraged me to improve over the past four years is just seeing how everyone else has grown, and I really liked my time here because of this, just, really close work environment and seeing everyone else improve really just encouraged me to do the same so I didn’t get left behind. But, um, I don’t know, it’s been great, it’s been fun. Like Jake said, I’ve kind of begun to mature in a musical standpoint, so now when I see certain things I can -- I can kind of predict how I’m going to play them, how I want it to sound, and then just working it up to get to that, it’s just part of the process, really. I don’t really know, there are plenty of good things I can say, but I think as not only your technique improves, but your ability to produce the sound you want also improves, and I’ve definitely noticed that in my playing over the last four years.
CALEB: Um, I’ve realized a few things and actually the least effective of them was technicality. I say having a positive mindset towards music and having historical context and the ability to interpret things, alongside having companionship with other people who share your passion for an art, whether that be -- whatever it is, in our case music -- having people around you that you can bounce ideas off of and just think of different things and come from a perspective you can't come from is a huge take away. And that's something you kind of learn in this kind of environment. I guess the other thing would be work ethic, because even if you come in and you're very highly technically proficient, which doesn't happen realistically, but sometimes it does -- even if you come in that way there's always room to grow, then you have to kind of subside the ego and decide, “okay, if I really put in the work I can stand out and rise above,” and that's kind of what it's about. When you spend all these hours every day not getting anywhere, so you have to have structure and you have to have companionship and you have to have an open mind set. Those things are really what separates a good musician from a great musician for me.
EMILY: Um, so for me personally -- when I was a freshman, my tone was horrible, absolutely horrible, and I can definitely tell how far I've grown with my tone and just, learning how to, like, shape my nails or pluck the string just right on the guitar so I have that nice musical tone. And for me, I always add a story to a piece because that’s how I want people to imagine what it sounds like. So that’s the biggest thing that I learned being here.
ANA: I don’t know, I guess I grew a lot… like, freshman year, during All-County and stuff I was so worried about my chair and what place I got, but Hollin taught me that, like, it’s important to make music, and that’s what you’re there for. Things like chair placement aren’t such a big deal in the grand scheme, because everyone’s important. So, you just have to know your balance.
KEVIN: Yeah, so comparing my playing to older recordings of my playing, I think my tone’s much better and I sound more professional, and I think it’s just easier to get the sound I want out of my instrument now, and of course I think I’m better technically as well, and musically. So, yeah.
JAKE: Also, I feel like all of us have started to appreciate music, that we just kind of have fun with it no matter what we play. We always just find the bright side in whatever piece we play and just try to have fun in whatever we do.
ANNABELLE: Yeah, absolutely! So, if your freshman selves could have come to these recitals and see the music you’re able to play now as seniors, what do you think you would have thought?
CONNOR: This is a joke. (laughter)
TREY: How do I get from where I’m at to there?
CONNOR: I definitely didn’t expect this.
JAKE: Honestly, if I’m -- I’m kind of glad that freshman me didn’t see senior me and what I would become, because I feel like I would have gotten so much anxiety and so much pressure built on me to, um, to se that that’s where I’ll eventually become. I feel like throughout my years here at BISFA I’ve been able to grow with my own pacing. I feel like -- like, just being comfortable with how I’m growing, instead of having pressure on me to get to a certain spot, um, helped me to, just, grow my own way.
CALEB: I don’t know what my freshman self would have thought. I mean, I was a lot less open-minded back then, so if I’m being brutally honest I probably would have thought something like, “wow, he got lame and started playing classical guitar.” (laughter) But, no, I don’t think I would have been able to appreciate the technicality that goes into that sort of thing.
EMILY: I would have laughed at myself, because I would have been like, “that’s -- there’s no way!” Like my brain wouldn’t comprehend me playing those pieces just because, like, how difficult they are and everything.
ANA: Um, I think my freshman self would have been surprised that I could play confidently, because I don’t think I was very confident in my playing freshman year. But I think I am now.
KEVIN: Yeah, I think -- like, kind of agreeing with that -- I think that I would have been impressed, because my audition music was, like, a Vivaldi concerto my freshman year, so I think I would have been pretty impressed.
ANNABELLE: Yeah, I think all of that’s very true. I think as performers it’s easy to look back and say, like, “wow, I would have been so impressed,” but I like that you’re able to see how maybe your pacing would have been affected by that. That’s all very true. So, if you could give one piece of advice to our current juniors and underclassmen instrumentalists, or even the incoming freshmen, what would it be?
EMILY: Do not take time for granted. Because, it’s like, “oh, I have enough time,” or like, “oh, I’ll get to that piece.” It’s like, “no, use that time now,” and everything. It’s just, like, don’t take it for granted.
CONNOR: Enjoy it while you can. Because, over the years, if you sort of weigh yourself back and you don’t do everything that you can to have fun while you’re at school, and then you hit your senior year and you’re hitting the last week, and you think to yourself how much you could have done before then -- with friends, with teachers, with literally everyone here -- you’re gonna regret it. So, I just recommend doing as much as you can before you graduate.
JAKE: Um, don’t set your standards too high. (everyone laughing) No! What? I genuinely feel like, my freshmen year, I put goals on myself that put too much stress on me. And -- the advice to people I would give is I wouldn’t put, like -- go by your own pacing! Don’t, like -- a lot of things can put weight on your shoulders. You can eventually collapse, and too much work can set you over the edge. And, yeah.
CONNOR: Take your time.
JAKE: Yeah, take your time. Embrace it. Do -- enjoy everything that you do, and don’t, like… yeah, don’t put too much pressure on yourself.
TREY: The best advice I can give is don’t spend all of your time comparing yourself to others. Instead, recognize the strengths and weakness in everyone else’s playing and appreciate the fact that everyone is different, in how they do things, how they interpret things, how they play things. It’s not so much a competition as it is a resource to learn more about yourself and what you do differently, so maybe you can improve as you see others improve.
CALEB: Close your eyes. Visualize the biggest, most profound dream you can have in your life. That’s about 50% of your capacity to make a goal.
EMILY: (pause) I already went. (laughter)
ANA: Oh, my advice would be, like Trey said, don’t compare yourself or your progress to others, because, like Jake said, it just adds so much stress on you that you don’t need. Um, it’s really counterproductive because we’re all just here to make music. Um, and… to practice often and spend time alone with your instrument, and don’t let yourself get burnt out, or you know, play too much to that you don’t like it and it’s not fun anymore.
KEVIN: Yeah. I’ll say, like, thoughtful practice, what works for you, and you’ll -- you might see faster improvement in your technique, and stuff. And it’s more just about thoughtful practice and not how long you practice, because it makes much more of a difference if you know what works for you.
ANNABELLE: Thank you all for that, that’s very insightful, and I think our current students and the ones coming in will really appreciate that. So, I know graduation is coming up very soon --
TREY: Oh, man.
ANNABELLE: -- and, so, one fo the things I wanted to ask you all is how do you plan to keep music in your lives after you move on from BISFA? Because I know it’s not realistic, not everyone’s going to major in music, not everyone’s going to want to do this every day for the rest of their lives, but how do you all plan to keep your passion for music going even after graduation?
TREY: Well, I’ll just say that some of us are going into music. (laughter) So --
JAKE: Actually almost all of us.
TREY: -- yeah, there’s a good number of us here that actually want to pursue music, um, yeah.
CONNOR: Wait a second… am I the only one? (laughter)
JAKE: Okay, so why don’t we start with Connor.
TREY: Yeah, yeah, Connor, why don’t you --
CONNOR: So I want to put it on the record, I am non-majoring in music -- I will still be playing -- but I guess, just keeping up the dedication and continuing with band is my way through. Um. I don’t know, I didn’t really think this far, ‘cause with my TMJ I was just gonna quit, because it doesn’t really feel that good to continue playing, so I’m just gonna push through it.
ANNABELLE: Yeah, well, that’s great, I didn’t realize that, like, all of you were majoring in music.
JAKE: Yeah, um… can we say where we’re all going to then?
ANNABELLE: Yeah, absolutely!
TREY: Yeah, if that’s what you want to talk about, then sure.
JAKE: Yeah, um --
TREY: (joking) I’m going to Boston Conservatory!
CONNOR: (joking) I got a full ride to Berklee! (laughter)
JAKE: Okay, so, um, two of us are actually going to the same school. Caleb and I are both going to Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, and both of us for music performance. So, that’s awesome.
CONNOR: Well, I’m going to Towson. (laughter)
TREY: I’m going to Shenandoah University in Winchester and I will be majoring in music education.
CALEB: I’m going to the Berklee College of Music.
EMILY: Um, I’m going to Gettysburg College and I’m majoring in music education.
ANA: I’m going to James Madison University with a major in music performance.
KEVIN: I’m going to University of Maryland and double majoring in violin performance and computer science.
ANNABELLE: That’s great, thank you all for sharing that with us! So, to wrap this up, I know that there are two more performances before the end of the year, so can you all just give us the details for that?
EMILY: I feel sad. (laughter) I feel sad, because it’s one of the last performances, and, like, you get so used to playing in here, and you get so excited. Everyone feels like a family when we’re all together, but we’re leaving, and it’s like we’re leaving our family… and that sucks!
JAKE: Yeah, so the spring concert is this Tuesday, and it will include the guitar ensemble, both the string orchestra, the wind band, and the symphony orchestra, and it will also have our senior ensemble for all the people who are graduating. We will all play one last piece together and it will be really sad, and --
TREY: Don’t forget baby pictures!
JAKE: -- we get all of our baby pictures.
MR. HOLLIN: Do I have all of your all’s baby pictures?
TREY: I know I turned mine in!
CONNOR: I turned mine in!
JAKE: And then, on Thursday is our chamber ensemble, our jazz band, and our, um, commercial ensemble groups, and we will be -- that’s our -- our other chamber concert that we had previously in the year was so much fun. There was so much good music there and it’s gonna be the same this time. It’s gonna be amazing! I hope you guys show up.
TREY: I’ll just repeat that, our spring concert is on the 24th --
CONNOR: Next Tuesday!
TREY: -- yes, next Tuesday.
CONNOR: Not this Tuesday, next Tuesday.
TREY: And the small ensembles concert is going to be next Thursday on the 26th.
ANNABELLE: Alright, thank you all! Thank you all for agreeing to do this interview and for sharing your experiences with us. Thank you Mr. Hollin! And… yeah, that’s it!
EMILY: Thank you!
TREY: Thank you!
(applause)
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