Musicians filled the auditorium, with the tuning of the chords, and the sounds of the different instruments playing, the room filled with joy, nerves, but also excitement, getting to perform to show the talent of young students, and how far they’ve come in the career of music.
On January 24, senior Emma Balega represented Greater Latrobe at the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association District One Orchestra Festival at Mt. Lebanon High School. The District Orchestra hosts students from across the greater Pittsburgh area; 44 school districts were represented.
Emma Balega, a Greater Latrobe Senior High School musician, has been playing the violin since she was four years old. Balega’s mom started her interest in playing. “She took me to a music store and had me pick out an instrument, and I picked the violin,” Balega said. Not going to any other instrument, Balega went straight for the violin. “I thought it was pretty,” Balega said. Her mom always played orchestra music in the car and would take her to performances, and she was instantly drawn to it.
Over 14 years of playing the violin, Balega also plays another instrument, the saxophone. She has been playing the saxophone since her sophomore year of high school and plays for the jazz band at Greater Latrobe. There is no orchestra at Latrobe, but she plays for a symphony orchestra, WYSO (Westmoreland Youth Symphony Orchestra), and she’s been playing a part of this group since she was in 2nd grade
This year, Emma Balega performed at the PMEA. Balega had to audition for the spot, “I had to go through a process,” Balega said. Auditioning with 99 violinists, getting a piece of hard music to play, and then getting selected. There were 44 violin players, but overall 150 students all together.
Performing in the orchestra festival before her sophomore year, Balega had an idea of what she was getting into.
Attending Penn State in the fall, Balega is planning on majoring in business finance. On the side, she is interested in joining a low-commitment orchestra at the university.
Emma Balega has put in long hours and years of getting to where she is now with her violin playing. “It’s still neat to learn new music,” Balega said. No matter how long she has been playing for, she still has an interest in learning new pieces and getting to perform her hard work.
