“Music within itself is a language,” Clara Bailey said. “It’s really incredible how we’re able to communicate these things without using words.”
Bailey, a junior, has been playing the violin since she was four years old. She now plays with the Huron High School Orchestra.
“I think that playing with an orchestra is a really great way to connect with people,” Bailey said. “Sometimes, I can get intimidated by the orchestra, though, just because there’s so many people.”
Bailey found her love for music in the connection of the orchestra as well as having people come and watch her perform in a large group.
When preparing for a performance, Huron Orchestra director Timothy Krohn hands out the new music to the orchestra. The orchestra will spend a couple of days sight-reading the piece before digging into it in order to absorb all of the music’s details.
The orchestra has different sections, so they will spend time with each section playing by themselves so they can hear their own parts without the sound and distraction of the rest of the orchestra. Usually, they are able to practice on the stage before a performance. “It sounds a lot different on the stage than it does in the room,” Bailey said. “There’s a lot of fine tuning that happens [on the stage].” Throughout all of that work, the orchestra will eventually stitch it all together to make an amazing piece.
Bailey’s passion for the violin began when her grandmother encouraged her to learn to play an instrument.
I didn’t want to play violin when I was little at all,” Bailey said. “My parents asked me what I wanted to play, but the only instrument I knew by name was violin.”
Going from not wanting to play an instrument at all to where she is today, Bailey says “I think that especially at first, it’s really tiring, like, I’m never gonna get this,” Bailey said. “Getting into the more complicated pieces with the orchestra and getting to connect with people, has made me really realize the power that music and playing music can hold.”
The Huron Orchestras took a trip to Spain last summer and performed four different concerts, one being in one of the best concert halls in Spain, The National Music Auditorium in Madrid. In fact, it was recognized by the United Nations to be one of the best concert halls in the world. While in Spain, Bailey further discovered the impact music has on other people.
Bailey speaks a bit of Spanish, so she was able to understand what people were saying after the concert. Some of the concerts they performed at were sold out concert halls.
“I guess I didn’t really have an idea of how impactful music can be,” Bailey said. “It wasn’t just the parents showing up for their kids’ concert. It was really amazing that people would come up to me and say, ‘you were so amazing,’ or ‘I love this piece,’ or ‘this part was amazing or even I think that was really incredible music to hear. It’s really incredible how we’re able to communicate things to others without using words.”
