As Senior Bella Tran trapises onto the stage of her last high school choir performance, bright lights illuminating her silhouette, crowd cheering, she is brought to reflect on the last 7 years of her music journey – and where it all began.
“I was in choir for all three years of middle school,” Tran said. “Before that I had taken piano lessons, so that definitely helped me while I was doing choir in middle school. Nearing the end of my 8th grade year, I would play the piano in the band room. Ms. Remley, who was the band director at the time, saw me and was like ‘You play the piano? You should definitely join the marching band’. She showed me the poster for when to come in for the meeting, and I went to it.”
After attending the meeting, Tran quickly decided to join the marching band. She was assigned the synthesizer, an electronic keyboard, as her instrument to showcase her piano skills.
“Think of it as if I were to bring a piano around,” Tran said. “It would only sound like a piano. Using a computer and then connecting that to the electric keyboard, we can load tons of different sounds. It doesn’t have to be a keyboard or piano sound. It could be string instruments. It could be horn instruments. It could have different sound effects. We could find any sound and put it onto the keyboard so that it plays when we press those keys.”
When Tran’s first marching band season came to an end and she had developed experience with the synthesizer, she was encouraged by her peers to join indoor percussion. At the same time, Tran was tackling her first year of show choir.
“I had made it into Accents, which is the JV girls show choir,” Tran said. “That actually worked out really well because their competition season is during the spring and marching band is only in the fall.”
Tran was in Accents, a JV show choir, for all four years of high school, and CG Singers, a varsity concert choir, for her junior and senior years. Getting started, however, was a challenge for Tran.
“Going into Accents my freshman and sophomore year, dancing was definitely a struggle for me because I had never been a dancer,” Tran said. “I felt confident musically because I had taken piano, but dancing was never really something I tried to get into. It was a very big learning curve to have to face seeing myself in the mirror and it not looking too good. I think the biggest part of getting through it was just knowing I’m in an environment that is going to help me and won’t judge me for being bad.”
Tran admits that it can be difficult to manage everything that she is involved in, especially since she joined the varsity concert choir her junior year. Tran said her underclassman years were easier because she was only in Accents, which did not overlap her indoor percussion season like it does now.
“There are definitely some conflicts every once in a while because the choir and percussion competition season are at the same time,” Tran said. “If I were to have been in a varsity show choir as an underclassman, all the competitions would have been on the same day and that would not have been possible. I was actually glad that I got to be in Accents my first year. That showed me that it was possible to do both at the same time.”
Tran said that it was easier her freshman and sophomore year to keep up with everything, but that as an upperclassman, she finds her load a bit more taxing. However, this does not stop Tran from continuing to participate in all three music programs.
“They all apply to different parts that I enjoy,” Tran said. “I really enjoy performing, singing, and dancing which comes with show choir, but I also enjoy instrumental music I make within the percussion or within the marching band. They all really showcase different skills and different kinds of performances, but I enjoy all of them which is why I choose to stay in all of them.”
Tran has had a lot of experience through her many years in music, and throughout them has learned her favorite thing about the art.
“My favorite thing about music is just being able to create something beautiful with other people,” Tran said. “I’ve never really considered myself a solo player. I’ve always preferred making music in a group. I just really enjoy getting to put together music with other people who feel the same passion for it.”
With graduation right around the corner, Tran plans to continue participating in the arts as she pursues a college degree.
“I’m definitely going to Ball State,” Tran said. “I’m going there to study architecture.
I went there on admitted students day to see what kind of music programs they offer. They do have a show choir, but I think I would like to join their chamber choir instead because that is more musically difficult. To keep up my piano skills I think I’ll try to join their orchestra too. While I do want to join some music ensembles, I would love to keep music as a separate hobby that makes me happy instead of pursuing it as a job, so I’ll always have something to come back to that I won’t get stressed about or I won’t have to feel like is a burden on me.”
Although Tran won’t be pursuing a career in music, her skills will help her no matter where she ends up.
“I think the biggest skills that you learn in music ensembles are how to work with other people and how to work hard,” Tran said. “It’s definitely not easy to combine all these visual and musical aspects together, and it’s a pretty heavy mental load to have to stay so concentrated for a long period of time. While I’m not pursuing musical skills, it’s definitely another skill in itself to be able to focus and work with people for long periods of time and collaborate on things that you enjoy.”
