A Zach of All Trades!

We all have circles we run in for a variety of reasons, but when you’re twelve generally you don’t get a lot of say in what communities you’re a part of. I first started band when I was twelve. I didn’t really choose it, it just seemed like the least boring option. I had never really been passionate about music before. I liked to listen to it, I thought rock stars were cool like most twelve year olds, but I had no real aspirations of being a musician. My passion for music came later into grade six, along with my love of the community. 

It wasn’t until we started learning The Tenth Planet, a piece that my sixth grade self found super difficult. This piece was the first time I stayed behind in the band room to keep practicing with other students. I had talked to a few of the saxophones but I hadn’t really spent any time with the rest of the band. I’d been spending an hour a day with all these people and hadn’t had a real interaction with them before. Suddenly I knew a bunch of kids who were struggling with things I struggled with, liked the things I liked. To this day The Tenth Planet is one of my favourite pieces I’ve ever played.

I’d stumbled into a community of people that had been sitting five feet away from me for an entire month. With this new found group of great friends came a passion for music. It became about making music together as a group. Band quickly became my favorite class and the kids in it my closest friends.

A year after discovering the community that comes with music, I moved here to Kamloops. It was the first time I’d moved in nine years, at fourteen I was beyond nervous coming to a new school with new kids. But there was one thing that wasn’t new to me. Band. Even though I’d moved far from where I used to live there was still a band to join and if it was anything like my old one, it was the place for me. So I joined Valleyview Secondary’s band and once again made some of the best friends I ever had.

Immediately upon stepping into the band room I was welcomed. The band, comprised of grades nine-twelve, opened their arms to me. The passion for music and the passion for friendship was exactly the same. Already I had found a group of peers who could help me with anything I need, a hardline to upper classmen more than willing to mentor and offer advice. More so than the band I had left, the mix of grades and experiences meant I was never without a helping hand. Band and music carried me through high school, shifting from looking to my classmates for support to offering that helping hand.

Now having left high school I still see that sense of camaraderie and support in the music community in Kamloops. Having the opportunity to work at KISSM has put me side by side with education and music professionals who I frequently turn to for help and advice as I continue to move toward my own goals. People who’ve done what I have done, gone through what I have gone through, all willing to advise and commiserate with me.

The community of music is ever broadening and ever welcoming, the important of access to it is pivotal. Everyone should have the opportunity to sing and play and make music, to join a community where everyone has a home. Music welcomed me with open arms and it does so for everyone who comes to listen to it.