Josh Weinberg

Josh Weinberg, was in MAYSO for three years from 2007 to 2010 as a flutist. Having first auditioned on the three instruments he was learning at the time: oboe, flute, and bassoon, Dr. Amy Roisum-Foley, MAYSO's conductor at the time, decided he should play flute. He was a member until 2010, when he had to quit due to a busy schedule. He is now a harpist, a flutist, and a composer, and he wishes to create his own ensemble, someday.

Praticha Jagdish

Praticha Jagdish was a violinist in NSS for two years from 2007- 2009 and in MAYSO for seven years from 2009 to 2015 until she graduated and aged out. She started out as a 2nd violinist, then worked her way up to be a 1st violinist all the way to being concert mistress for her last two years of MAYSO. Throughout high school, Praticha also participated in Mankato East's orchestra and chamber orchestra as a violinist. She also played the tenor saxophone in the Mankato East band and jazz band and sang in its chamber choir. Her other activities included National Honor Society, Project for Teens, Link Crew, tennis, track, and soccer. She also had a lead in the Fall Musical In the Heights in 2014.

Praticha currently plays in the orchestra at the University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities as a freshman. She plans to become a doctor, possibly a pediatric cardiologist so that she can work with children: “I love kids, and I want to be a doctor.” To do this, she wants to major in chemistry, but Praticha still wants to somehow incorporate music into her career: “If I had that degree, I would feel more inclined to join an orchestra and keep music in my life.” Will she double major or minor in music? Will she pursue music therapy? Will she just join an orchestra? Like many of us, she doesn’t know, at this point. She does know, however, that music is too important for her to let go: “I started playing the violin when I was three, so it’s kind of been a part of my life for as long as I can remember.”

Praticha describes her time in MAYSO as 'interesting', which is concerning on a first glance, but she holds that it was interesting "in a good way." She made strong friendships in MAYSO, but she also recognizes how MAYSO can be a scary, new environment:

“A lot of my good friends are from music things. I have very close friends from the orchestra and from the musical. I started when I was in 6th grade. When we went on the breaks, I would just sit in the rehearsal room, and I wasn't interested in talking. Then I got the motivation to go and make some new friends... There's so many aspects that it makes you want to join to understand it.” 

She especially enjoyed Dr. Rodgers and his jokes, which she advises future students to “laugh at Dr. Rodger’s jokes because I never laughed when I was a senior. It was kind of a joke. They’re not that bad- kind of funny- [but he] says them in a weird way.” Besides Dr. Rodgers' awesome humor, she also describes Dr. Rodger's interaction with students in that he challenges them through the diverse music he chooses. She appreciates that Dr. Rodgers "knows how to conduct in a way where you're having fun, but you're learning music at the same time." Although she eventually made these strong friendships, she realizes that it's difficult to keep in touch "when you're all going different directions."

Currently, she hopes to graduate from the U of M in less than four years "majoring in chemistry and maybe something in music." She wants to get to medical school and become a doctor early enough so that she isn't 40 years old by the time she becomes a doctor. Despite this goal, she also plans to take things slow in and enjoy life. Although she's enjoying college so far, she "kind of bummed out" when she heard about MAYSO rehearsals starting up again: "Life goes by fast, and I hope to enjoy every second of it."

Lauren Ward

September's alumni spotlight goes to Lauren Ward, who was a flutist for three years (four seasons) from 2010 to 2013. She quit her senior year of high school due to having too much going on: dual-enrollment PSEO and high school courses, theater, choir, private lessons, basketball, and volleyball. Basketball had been the main activity that had conflicted with MAYSO, and she wishes she "could have been in MAYSO one more year."

MAYSO had been Lauren's first orchestral experience, and she describes her experience in MAYSO positively, saying that it was "really neat to come into MAYSO" and that it's "something you never experience outside of being in an orchestra." Before she joined, she had been taking private flute lessons, and her flute instructor had been the one that had influenced her choice to join. She says it is "one of the best decisions [she] made in high school."

Lauren Ward with an #IamMAYSO sign. 

"It was super fun. Dr. Rodgers was full of a lot of energy. He made it a moving and laughing experience... Dr. Rodgers was probably one of my favorites. [He was] fun and knowledgeable, and he displayed knowledge in a fun and easy way to understand."

The challenge is what brought her back: "it's hard to say what I was practicing for on my own. There were only a few different competitions, but MAYSO made me want to be prepared each week." She also liked the other members, saying that the "people were super fun." She still keeps in touch with a few of the members, including Dahsol Lee, whom she's seen a few times, and Andrew Kienholz, who goes to her church (He's also in Egypt, right now).

Music has been and still is an impact in her life: "Flute helps me refocus and helps me breathe. Something about it just touches your core." After high school, she participated in a number of ensembles at Clearwater College, including another orchestra, handbell choir, symphonic band, and flute choir. She also takes private lessons and plays for her church. However, Clearwater College closed down after her first year due to low enrollment, so she is now enrolled at Cedarville University in Ohio. There, she still practices, though her current school limit 25 non-music major students to use the practice rooms. She does participate in band, and she also enjoys singing,

Lauren will be walking this year, but will not graduate until December 2017, with a degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology. She hopes to do some type of medical research: "I'm not quite sure; it's a broad field, but I would love to do some type of medical research." For future prospective students, she advises to "enjoy your time" and to not focus "on the marks on the page" too much. "As our band director says: 'Don't expect to learn the music in practice; take the time out of rehearsal to practice.'"

Eric Schwamberger

August's alumni spotlight goes to Eric Schwamberger, who played trombone in MAYSO during his senior year of high school from 2010 to 2011. Last month's alumni, Dahsol Lee, was the person who recruited Eric, whom he still keeps in touch with. So what influenced his choice to join? He said that the "stuff we did in high school just wasn't challenging." It seems MAYSO fulfilled that lack of challenge, because Eric said that at one point he was given a piece written in a tenor clef (the clef most often used for violas) as opposed to the bass clef most often used for low brass (and other) instruments, and he "had to figure out how to transcribe it." MAYSO also gave him an introduction to different types of music he could play: "it was interesting... getting handed a sheet of music and just looking at it and thinking it was going to be art."

Music is still in Eric's life, today, since he enjoys singing in the car (who doesn't?). He continues to listen to it everyday, and its impact stays with him, having shaped him to pay more attention to detail and having given him a degree of discipline. He also finds that music is a good subject to talk about as its often "something interesting" to bring up in conversation.

Beyond singing in the car, Eric continues to play trombone at his church, Hosanna Lutheran, during Easter and Christmas times. He also used to play in the Mankato Municipal Band, He still practices here and there, and he advises prospective students to do the same, "as cliche as that is, and just don't be afraid to try something new."

Currently, Eric works at Sam's Club and travels, like in the picture above, Eric is shown taking an alumni #IAmMAYSO photo in Seattle, WA while spectating International 6, the biggest tournament for an online battle game called Dota 2. He also travels for other competitive events for a variety of fighting games and a card game called Magic the Gathering. Although music hasn't been the biggest influence on where he travels, he does still try to "make stops at locations that [have] to do with music, like Broadway in New York City and the Experience Music Project Museum in Seattle."

Eric currently does not have definite plans for his future and, as he says, "going with the flow and going where life takes [him]." He plans to continue travelling throughout the U.S. and to continue to work at Sam's Club. One final comment of his is about Dr. Rodgers and of course his humor: "It's the right kind of dry."

Dahsol Lee

In an effort to show why orchestra, specifically the Mankato Area Youth Symphony Orchestra, is worth your or your child's time, MAYSO is starting a new campaign called #IamMAYSO, which reaches out to its alumni. Secondly, to highlight that musical experience in junior high and high school goes beyond "something you just did" to become a lifelong pursuit, this new blog will release monthly profiles of these alumni.

This first alumni spotlight is on Dahsol Lee, who was in MAYSO from 2009 to 2013 playing a Bb/A Clarinet. She left in 2013 because she graduated high school, but she's still around. This coming fall will be her second year as a board member.

Two years ago, Carolyn Borgen advertised that the MAYSO board was looking for an alumni to "bridge the ideas and experiences of the students in the ensembles and the adults on the board." Dahsol currently serves as a secretary, attending meetings and recording the minutes. She also goes through the surveys, among other tasks, at end of the concerts "to take ideas to the board about what [they're] doing well and what [they] can improve on as an organization."

"It's been very encouraging to see the growth the organization has made within the two short years I've been on the board, and I definitely want to see that growth continue!"

Orchestras can provide many opportunities to connect with people with similar interests, both peers and professionals, which could be helpful networks later on. When asked what made her come back each year, she replied, "The people were definitely what made me come back each year -- especially my fellow wind players!" She "definitely" still keeps in touch with these friends.

First impressions tend to be very strong, and a musician's first orchestral experience can set his or her perception of orchestra. For Dahsol, MAYSO had been her first orchestral experience as a wind player, which she says "helped [her] to really build [her] confidence and musicianship." She also said that she was able to "build so many friendships and networks with other musicians and professionals" which would not have been possible without MAYSO.

Music, in general, can impact a person's life, with its ability to enchant and connect people. Dahsol was raised in a family "that appreciated music," which influence her to see "see music as a positive bonding experience." She still associates music with "community and gathering."

Although Dahsol has not participated in any orchestras recently ("unfortunately"), she has played clarinet in a couple of bands at the University of Minnesota. Other than that, music still plays a part in her life.

"As a special education major, I’m always trying to find effective interventions for students, and I find that music is an effective tool for many of the goals I am trying to reach or as a positive sensory experience on its own."

So whatever you end up doing after orchestra and after high school, music can still have a presence, even if it's just singing in your car. For prospective students, Dahsol gives this advice: "Please laugh at Dr. Rodgers' jokes."

Dahsol's experience in MAYSO was a good one, and she "continue[s] to be a board member to ensure that current and future musicians in NSS or MAYSO have as great an experience as I did (or even better)." Hopefully, other alumni share these positive experiences with Dahsol and perhaps more. What kind of experiences have you had in MAYSO or NSS, and where has music led you in life? I hope many of you continue to let music have a place in your lives.