ALEXIS SEBRING
Life Assistant
Paganini played it, Joshua Bell mastered it and freshman Alyson Austin is charming Pepperdine with it. What this instrument that perfectly fits under the chins of talented individuals? The violin.
Commonly referred to as one of the most difficult instruments to pick up, the violin still has not stumped Austin. She has made her way into Pepperdine’s symphony and plays sweet notes to challenging songs.
She started in fourth grade and has been playing strong since then.
Austin describes what it is like to make music with the violin.
Why did you start playing the violin?
“I’d always been interested in playing something. The violin just kind of popped out. It was one of those things that sounded fun. I went to an info meeting about the orchestra in general and asked if I could play the violin.”
Was your family supportive?
“My family was really supportive. My mom plays piano and flute. They were totally cool with it, and they put up with all of my squeaking beginner days. “
Do you have siblings who play instruments?
“My younger sister who’s 17 plays flute in the high school band. Occasionally I try to get her to practice with me but she never really wants to. Once we played a trio with my mom. My mom and sister were on the flute, and I played the violin part. It was a Christmas gathering. Sometimes I’ll play stuff with my mom if there’s an orchestra piece, or sometimes I’ll have a duet book and we play that music.”
What was your musical involvement in high school?
“I was in the advanced group all four years. I rotated around, the first two years I was second violin and the last two years I was first.”
What’s your involvement at Pepperdine?
“I’m in the Pepperdine Orchestra. When we don’t have concerts the regular rehearsals are about four hours a week on two different nights. It depends for everything else when we have concerts. For the musical we had several different rehearsals leading up to it. That was like 20 hours of rehearsal within a week and a half. It’s not really bad.”
Do you have any concerts coming up?
“The end of April is our last one. It’s combined with the choir. They will be singing first half and the orchestra comes in the second half. We also have a couple featuring performers playing different instruments; it’s going to be diverse. We also will be playing movie music, like John Williams and I think Star Wars.”
What chair are you?
“There are only four violinists, so I’m second violin, second chair.”
How much do you practice on your own?
“It varies from week to week, but including the hour I do private lessons, probably four to five hours a week.”
Are there any stricter demands on you as an individual player now than in high school?
“It is different. In high school we didn’t do musicals or operas. That was a different aspect, and because we do that here it’s a little easier. The area I’m from is a music area. We were always working on challenging stuff for competitions. We had symphony and chamber that went to state in high school, so that was two separate groups and two separate chunks of music to learn. High school was much more demanding.”
Do you plan on continuing violin even after you graduate?
“Yeah, definitely. I think more as a hobby, though. It might be fun to give younger kids lessons, but I’m not planning on majoring in it. It’s an escape and something to do for fun.”
Why is music so important to you?
“There is something about it; it’s really intriguing. You can master one piece you’re working on, but there’s always something beyond that – more skills, something you haven’t learned yet. You can strive to get better, but there’s always something else to achieve. Some pieces have an energy… it’s a really good and creative emotion and an outlet. I like to go late at night and practice and unwind. If I didn’t have that I don’t know what I would do. Whatever stress or drama is going on I just plug it into the music.”
What is your most memorable experience while playing the violin?
“My freshman year we went to this Midwest clinic in Chicago for four to five days. We played there and had to prepare 10 different pieces with varying skill levels because other teachers would listen and come to see if they wanted to get that music for their group. For 10 days we went to Europe and traveled around. We played for host families and we played at part of a palace in Vienna. It was a lot of fun.”
04-03-2008
