The arts remain an integral part of Hays High, especially music. Students create music in many ways, including in two bands (jazz and concert), two choirs (concert and chamber), and three orchestras (concert, philharmonic, and chamber).
Seniors in music at Hays High often choose to follow this path after high school, whether the path being music education or musical theater.
Some seniors at Hays High got the opportunity to create music in a unique way, including performing in the annual musical, conducting, and composing/making a song of their own.
This year, the annual musical was Hadestown, a musical telling the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. Orpheus was played this year by senior Oscar Flores, and Eurydice by senior Jordan Aschenbrenner. Both are considering musical theater for their future, and both have been performing in the musical since freshman year. This experience has helped them to think about their future.
“Performing in the shows here at HHS each year has shaped my future without me even realizing. Each audition I prepared for, or all the lines memorized has helped me prepare for my future,” Aschenbrenner said. “I’m so thankful for all the opportunities and support given to me.”
Another opportunity given to some students this year was the chance to conduct a concert. Orchestra teacher Brayden Smith gave 8 students (3 seniors and 5 juniors) the chance to conduct a song at the February 10th concert.
Caleb King, Ava Ruiz, and Breckyn Wahlmeier were the 3 seniors who conducted. Wahlmeier plans to major in music education in college and is glad for this opportunity.
“This experience has helped me to feel more prepared for my future career. Being able to get in front of the ensemble and hear each section in a different way gave me insight on the best way to teach a group instead of individuals, which is what I am used to,” Wahlmeier said.
Ruiz also plans to major in music education in college, and in addition to being able to conduct she also composed an original song with seniors Addy Brull and Keira Vilaysing.
Last year this trio chose to be in the “Tiny Desk” set of classes, so on their gold days (along with other students who also chose this) their classes that were more music focused, even their core classes like math or English.
Ruiz said this aided her choice in choosing music education as her future.
“It helped my decision by making me realize how much music means to me,” Ruiz said.
By participating in this set of classes, the students broke up into teams and wrote and composed a song. This was a huge undertaking and took months of hard work. Brull, Ruiz, and Vilaysing wrote and composed a song titled “Twisted Truth.” This process was beneficial to the students as it helped them to think more clearly about their future and how they wanted music to continue to be a part of it.
In Brull’s future career, music will continue to be an important part of her life as she plans to major in music therapy. Creating a song taught her the importance of emotions and thought into music, and this in turn will help her to connect with her future patients.
“Music will help me connect with future patients because it is a universal form of communication,” Brull said.
All these seniors have been involved in music creation, whether it be performing, conducting, or composing. These experiences have led them to include music in their future careers in some way.
“Making music is so important because if no one did it then nothing in our lives would be the same. Music is everywhere, in movies, video games, andwhen you want to listen to something while doing your homework,” Vilaysing said. “Music allows us to express ourselves and send a message, preferably the one we create ourselves when composing.”
25kwillemsen@usd489.com
