MUSIC CAN TURN A LIFE AROUND
by Leandro Vargas
As the music ended and the conductor lowered his baton, I thought about what I had just heard. Tchaikovsky's 5th. The Dallas Symphony was playing it. I thought of all the notes and all the rhythms that make the work a masterpiece. Each little detail contributes to make the piece unique.
That's the way I feel about life. Each thing you add or take away, each thing that happens, contributes to make your life different from anyone else's. Many things in my life have made me into the person I am. Small details have contributed as much to my life as big things. For example, the direction of my life changed completely because of a broken string.
In the sixth grade at John Ireland Elementary School, I joined the school orchestra. We practiced every Thursday. We began by learning what the strings were. The second week, I was playing around, making scratchy noises when, all of a sudden, my E string broke. I was very nervous; I didn't know what to do. My teacher, Ms. Slatter, said, "Don't worry about it. I can put a new string on it for you."
I was so relieved. But my happiness disappeared when Ms. Slatter told me she didn't have an extra E string. However, she said she could put viola strings on my violin. That turned out best for me.
That broken E string changed the whole course of my life. Not many people who don't follow music know about the viola. It is an overlooked instrument. Because of its similarities to the violin, people think it is an oversized violin; they don't realize that it can produce a sound that surpasses any other instrument in beauty and texture.
While in sixth grade, I got this crazy idea to try out for W.E. Greiner, the art academy for. middle school students. I never thought that I would be accepted, but I turned in an application anyway. [was accepted, I believe now because I was a viola player, a rarity for elementary students.
On the first day of seventh grade, I was extremely nervous. I was the only person to go to Greiner from my school: During the first semester, we spent a lot of time preparing for the All-Region Orchestra contest, in which you are given cuts from different pieces to learn. The day of the contest, you have to play for judges. If you play well, you are placed in the orchestra in order of who played best. I went to this contest because it was a class requirement. I never expected to get in. When I found out I got seventh chair out of about 30 violists, and only 16 were accepted, I was ecstatic. I was also shocked. I started to take the viola more seriously. I also started to realize that I was pretty good.
In eighth grade, I was first chair the whole year, and I got first chair at All-City and All-Region. From Greiner, I went on to Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and I currently am first chair viola in the orchestra. I am doing pretty well. I wish I could say the same for my academic classes. I struggle every six weeks just to pass. I do well in some classes, but it is a real struggle to keep my grades up so that I can participate in orchestra contests. Academic eligibility rules have kept me out of two important contests this year.
I know for sure that I wouldn't be at the arts magnet if it weren't for the viola. Many people have helped me. I am in the Young Strings program, which gives black and Hispanic string players free lessons with members of the Dallas Symphony.
Since the arts are not as popular as sports, they are often seen as expendable. Many schools don't have music or art programs because their budgets won't allow it. Yet there always seems to be enough money for sports programs.
I truly feel that it I had not started playing the viola, I really wouldn't have much to look forward to. I am one of many who will tell you that the arts have helped them. Music has changed my life more than anyone can imagine. Without music, I think I would probably be a thug. I'm not saying that I'm a saint, but I do owe a lot to that broken string.
Lerandro Vargas is a student at Dallas Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.
-The Dallas Morning News, April 25, 1997