Nandan Nair

Thursday, June 1, marked a huge day in my life. It was the day of the Spring Concert, a celebration of the arts, both academic and musical. It would also be my final Spring Concert at Central. However, this concert was different from others that I have done, mainly because I also joined the Chorus to experience both ends of the spectrum (band and chorus). It was a lot of fun, and a great way to end my time as part of Central’s band and chorus.

Over the past three years, I have evolved the range of notes that I can play. When I was in 6th grade, I could only play the lower notes on music, so I had to settle for the later versions of the sheet music. In band, each piece has different versions, indicated by numbers. The number 1 versions have much higher notes and are of higher difficulty. The number 2 versions tend to be in the middle, containing mostly lower notes with a few high notes, and being of moderate difficulty. The 3 versions, if there are any, tend to be the lowest notes, and are the least difficult. Due to my inability to play the high notes, I always played the number 3 versions. In 7th grade, I started learning more of the high notes, and played the number 2 versions more often, always trying to go another note higher. Finally in the 8th grade, I figured out how to do many of the high notes, and I played the number 1 versions more often.

In the initial years, I was always nervous that I would get a note wrong, and if something went wrong, I would immediately blame myself. I also had no appreciation for chorus and what they did. Over time I gained some confidence and did not worry too much about messing up. When I did, I would just fix it. I also started appreciating chorus and why it appealed to people. Now I have stopped worrying about messing up, and just focused on doing what I had to do. If something went wrong, I tried to help and fix it. I also ended up joining chorus towards the end of spring and had a blast in the final concert. A good surprise to end – my painting above was among the few from Central Middle School which was selected to be presented in the Quincy Arts Festival 2018.

I also got to know more people, built lifetime friendships and I feel more connected to the school with these two activities. I cannot be more grateful. I would like to thank my band teacher, Mrs. Schmidt, who has been with me since elementary school, for helping me change throughout the last few years. My chorus teacher, Mr. Boel encouraged me to join chorus, and helped when I needed it most. I would also like to thank my friends and my parents for dropping me off early to school for practices, and supporting me throughout this journey. It has been an honor to be part of Central’s musical arts program and I hope to come back next year to help out in any way possible.