SVYS Spotlight: Brynne

Brynne, a 7th grader from Jacksonville, gave these answers to our first questionnaire:

What instruments do you play?  I've been playing the violin for two years and also take piano lessons.

Any other instruments you’d like to learn? I think it would be fun to learn to play the oboe, and the organ and harpsichord would be fun to learn, too.

What are the most fun parts of Youth Symphony for you? The concerts are fun. It's exciting to work so hard to learn the pieces and then perform them on stage.  Mr. Haglund teaches us about composers, music history, and theory.  I like being exposed to all the different composers and types of music we play.  There is a difference between playing the violin as a solo instrument and in an orchestra.  In an orchestra, there are different layers of sound and it is fun to see how your part fits in and how it comes together.

What are the most challenging parts of Youth Symphony? It's not easy for all the different instruments with different parts to come together.  We have to learn to work together, listen to the other musicians, play on time, in tune, following Mr. Haglund's direction.  Then we have to make sure it is musical!

Who are the music influences in your life?  My parents have always had us involved in music since we were little. They think that practicing an instrument daily helps us learn to set goals and understand how to progress--the lesson that the harder you work in life, the farther you get.  Learning to read music helps develop the language and math part of your brain.  And you learn to understand music and see the beauty in it. 

How did you choose your instrument? I played the violin in a school program in third grade in another state, and I really liked how it sounded.  I heard a professional violinist perform and was amazed at how many ways there are to play it.  Most of the time it plays the soprano or alto part in the orchestra. 

In the many places where you have lived around the world, what has influenced you, your music, and your life?   We've been exposed to a lot of different kinds of music, like Chinese, Arabic, and Latin-American, but no matter what kind of music it is, anyone can understand it. It expresses emotions that cross language and cultural barriers.  There are a lot of things that make us different from each other, but there are also a lot of things that make us the same.