Andrea Huther took a seat in the front of the church, preparing herself for the wedding ceremony. She contributed beautiful sounding music from the strings of her violin. Seeing the bride and groom walking down the aisle, she felt content and full of enjoyment doing what she loves. Her practice and dedication had paid off.

Andrea Huther, a senior at RHS, has been playing the violin for nine years. She and students like junior Becky Jarvis and sophomore Sam Darwish, who participate in the National Piano Guild Auditions, practice their instruments each week to improve. Huther takes a violin lesson each week at Westside Music Studios from her teacher, Joyce Elliot. Huther is also involved in Elliot’s summer orchestra, which practices at a church in Akron. She described what she enjoys about playing the violin and why it is a worthwhile experience for her.

“Playing the violin provides me with a way to relax and have fun,” Huther said.

Elliot approached Huther with knowledge of a student who was looking for another member to a quartet to play at a wedding, and she decided to take the offer in hopes of a positive outcome.

“I knew that playing in a wedding would be a really exciting opportunity to take my musical career to another level. Therefore, I contacted this student right away. It was a lot of fun playing in a quartet, and the wedding was beautiful,” Huther said.

Huther showcased her violin talents in other forms in addition to performing at a wedding ceremony. Additionally, her music was featured on the radio. Huther talked about how this happened to her.

“In order to repay the church for allowing us to use their auditorium to practice, we played at one of their services. I had a solo piece during this service, which was broadcasted on the radio,” Huther said.

With so much experience in the violin, Huther voiced her opinions on music and how the artistic side of it can be beneficial to many.

“I feel that music is a great way to express oneself. Music allows you to be really creative,” Huther said.

Huther added that she hopes to continue playing violin in the future and is looking into playing in an orchestra at the college she chooses to attend.

Jarvis has been playing the piano for eleven years, but switched to her current piano teacher, Jennifer Stenroos, when she was in middle school. Stenroos encouraged her students to participate in National Piano Guild Auditions, which encouraged Jarvis to play a ten-piece, National-level program when she was a freshman. The Guild Auditions are not traditionally judged piano competitions, but participants learn more “challenging” pieces. A single judge scores the routines performed by participants, only looking at individuals. Jarvis has played for Guild for five years, and included what motivated her to take on the task.

“I started doing Guild auditions because my piano teacher pushes all her students to do so. I played a Diploma of Social Music program for Guild auditions this year in March. I guess I just wanted to prove to myself that I could do it [since] the Diploma programs require longer pieces and more technical musicianship phases that I had not done in the past,” Jarvis said.

Darwish got involved with Guild competitions seven years ago. He discussed what competitions are like and what criteria performers must have in order to participate.

“To participate you have to choose 1 of 2 categories. In the first, you must memorize 10 songs and their corresponding scales and play them in front of a judge. I did that for the first five years that I have done Guild. In the second, you simply have to play four songs and their scales in front of a judge without memorizing them, which I have done for the past two years,” Darwish said.

Darwish described the aura of the competitions and what it is like to play in one before receiving an “unbiased” opinion of how one plays his or her music.

“They are pretty nerve-racking. You sit in a room with just a judge and you play your songs for them, and they score you based on your performance,” Darwish said.

Jarvis expressed the benefits of the auditions she took part in, praising the experience for helping her to improve her skills and be more diligent with the hobby.

“[Auditions] really force you to increase your repertoire because of the sheer volume of music that you have to play, and they encourage you to really dedicate yourself to piano and practicing,” Jarvis said.

Once the wedding concluded, Huther set her violin down for the day, knowing her dedication and hours of practice set her on a path to achieve goals and accomplish new tasks. Similarly, fellow students Jarvis and Darwish reached new standards of success through their piano playing after memorizing and practicing consistently.