“I kept telling myself a little saying I got from my English teacher, Mr. Senar,” she said. “He got it from a story to inspire him to do better at something. The saying is ‘Focus on what you want, not on what you fear.’”
Alyssa is assuming the role left vacant by Erica Richardson, said Brad Keimach, the orchestra’s conductor.
“Erica finished high school early and went on to the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia,” Keimach said. “It’s one of the world’s great music conservatories.”
Alyssa won the seat by competitive audition on Nov. 4. All the violin players in the section competed, but Alyssa scored the highest.
“Alyssa was extra-motivated,” Keimach said. “I found out after the audition from her private teacher that she had worked diligently and tirelessly on the music for the audition.”
Alyssa has been taking violin for five years and joined the youth orchestra in fifth grade. She started in the first violin section and was the youngest player.
“And I still am the youngest,” Alyssa said. “And I was assistant concertmaster last year, sitting next to Erica Richardson.”
The program for the first concert of the season will be Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Coriolan Overture” and Symphony No. 8 in F, Richard Wagner’s “Siegfried Idyll” and Aaron Copland’s Hoedown from the ballet “Rodeo.”
“I really like the Hoedown,” Alyssa said. “It’s like the first American contemporary piece we’ve done. We usually play classical.”
Alyssa has a brief solo in the Hoedown piece.
“It goes a little bit high on shifting of the fingering positions on the violin,” she said.
The whole program is an orchestral showcase of the different parts of the orchestra, Keimach said.
