Today I am here with Jade Price to talk to her about her orchestra life here in Graves County High School. When did you start?

“I started in 4th grade after we had a little assembly, and Mrs. Darnell took out a viola and a violin. She started with the viola, and to me, it sounded gross, I didn’t like it one bit. So all of the little kids were like wow and I just wasn’t into it. Then she played the violin and played the Harry Potter Hogwarts Theme. At the time I was in love with Harry Potter, so I wanted to be able to play it as well.” 

Ok, so how did you manage to start taking classes with her after that assembly?

“She had little papers that she handed out to everybody if they were interested. I took it to my mom, and at first, she didn’t really trust me with that responsibility. We ended up renting a violin at the school, and I immediately started playing it when I got home. My mom has a video of me doing it and really she thought that I sounded terrible, but it was actually really pretty!”

What made you continue with it through middle and high school?

“In middle school, all of my other friends were still doing it, so at that point, it was more of a social thing than actually wanting to play. All my friends were in there so I just decided to say you know what? Why not? In 8th grade, we started contest pieces, which is when it starts to get more difficult and complicated than what we were used to at the time. Three of my friends were in it with me, and we ended up with a score of distinguished. I thought maybe I was actually good at something, and that I should stick with it.”

Do you plan on sticking with it into the future and throughout life?

“I definitely do. I plan to major in film but I’d like to keep music in my life, so I’m going to minor in music through college.”

What makes you want to keep music in your life?

Music is and always has been a huge part of my life. I don’t want to lose the knowledge I have already, and if possible I’d like to expand on what I already know.”

Why don’t you tell me some of your favorite things about Dr. Hill and other students in your orchestra?

“Dr. Hill is a very influential person, she has done a bunch of amazing things in the music world that I both envy and want to do myself. She can be funny, she can nitpick. Although it can get aggravating, I feel as if that’s what has made me better and what has brought me here.

As for the people in orchestra with me, I’ve grown very close to Shawn Forrester, Zoey Black, Aeron Anderson, Eric, Jada, Aiden, I’m all about them. Even though you aren’t in there with us anymore, orchestra brought me closer to you as well. Shawn and I would practice together nonstop last year, we’ve just got to be really close to each other, and it has been so much fun. While Dr. Hill was out for the majority of the school year, most of us lost the want to play and ended up slacking off…. Finally, Gracie Routen talked some sense into us and so we started playing again. Shawn and I led our section, so we ended up playing for what felt like forever….After her [Dr. Hill] being gone for so long, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I used to; I didn’t want to be in there. When she came back everything seemed to click back into place.”