Sophomore Vi Hart has been playing musical instruments since she was in first grade, starting with the piano. Due to the Fine Arts Academy’s many music offerings, Hart was excited to attend McCallum for high school. She is in the Piano 1 class, steel drums, marching band and performance band.
Her passion for music started when she first heard the Lively Middle School band perform. When Hart was in elementary school, her older sister attended Lively and played for the band.
“Hearing them play, I just knew that that’s what I wanted to do,” Hart said.
Hart mainly plays the French horn, which she has been playing since sixth grade. The challenge of the French horn the drew Hart to the instrument from the start.
“I love the way it sounds, and it gives me something to work on, so I’m always busy,” Hart said.
Hart competed for a spot in the region orchestra competition on Nov. 16. There are limited spots available, and players who make it will accompany the orchestra at their regional concert, making this a very competitive competition. Hart got first chair for her instrument, the French horn, out of 30 people in the 5A and 6A districts.
In the competition, all 30 participants are in the same room and called up individually to play a piece of three different etudes, which are short compositions of music. Hart was nervous to play but afterward was confident in her performance.
“I was really excited for the results,” Hart said. “I had put in a lot of effort so I was happy to see in that room, that it had paid off.”
Dillon Junkin, one of Hart’s band teachers, began teaching Hart in August of 2023 when summer marching band practices began. Junkin has seen Hart’s growth throughout this past year.
“I have not seen many students that practice or work as hard as Vi has and so as a musician she has grown exponentially, in all facets, in tone, confidence, articulation just everything,” Junkin said.
According to Junkin, Hart has always been an extremely hard and talented worker, but he has also seen her transform into who she is as a person, through her music.
“I’ve also seen her grow into a much more confident person and develop into a leader in the program,” Junkin said. “Even though she might not have a leadership position, all of her peers look up to and respect her.”
Fellow band member, Thomas Capitan, also sees Hart as a hard worker and leader.
“She practices anytime she is given the opportunity,” Capitan said. “She really goes deep into the details of her music.”
He added that the effort and energy Hart puts into her instruments motivated him as a player as well. Similar to Hart, Capitan plays two instruments: the piano and the trombone.
“[Her work] shows me what the result of putting in effort every day is,” Capitan said.
Capitan also attended the all-region orchestra competition alongside Hart. He observed that Hart was very calm and collected before her performance and had everything prepared well.
Junkin agrees, stating this is normal operating procedure for Hart.
“I kind of envy her,” Junkin said “Ms. Nelson and I describe her as having nerves of steel. I never really see her get rattled by anything. She is just an absolute machine in her playing and in her technical ability. She always has such confidence in everything she does.”
Both Capitan and Junkin agree that there is no limit to where Hart’s focus and discipline can take her.
“Her work ethic has yielded great results and growth in her playing,” Junkin states. “It’s brought her fantastic musicianship, and she’s still getting better.”
Hart is going to continue with her music for as long as she can. Her sophomore year has been one success after another. After performing alongside the orchestra at the region orchestra concert, she proceeded to the band region competition where she qualified to move onto area and from there to All-State, which took place last week.
Junkin believes it won’t be her last trip to All-State. Hart credits her McCallum experience with fostering her success in the musical world.
“I’m very proud of what I’ve produced,” Hart said, “and I’m looking forward to continuing with my music.”
Junkin thinks Hart can continue to grow even more as a musician, and it will lead her to great things.
“The sky’s the limit for someone like her,” Junking states. “With how kind she is, with how smart she is, with how hard she works, anything and everything is available to her.”
