I have a love/hate relationship with the flute. As for the piccolo, well, that's usually only hate. I've played the flute since I was 9, making it almost 12 years since I picked up the instrument.

I play flute and piccolo in the CUC Concert Winds or "the band," and I also play in the New England Youth Ensemble, or "NEYE." NEYE is CUC's resident orchestra.

Before you get too excited--and I know you are excited to read this--you have to realize something: I'm not a music major. I don't have to be good at the flute anymore! In high school, I was principal flute and a part of three organizations and there was enormous pressure to improve and to play well. I practiced for what seemed like interminable periods of time. But, the thing is, I loved playing the flute then. It was a huge--and fun--part of my life.

My thoughts towards the flute have changed somewhat. Now that I know what I want to do in my life (PR, not music), my flute playing has taken a backseat to my other academic priorities. Although I still love to play the flute, I often feel irritation and (sometimes) anger that I have to keep my playing at such a high level. And for what? Well, partly the music scholarship I receive at CUC, but a lot of it is commitment to the organizations. Because I started out in them at CUC, it's not so easy to just step away and bow out. I'm pretty much stuck.

Every now and then, I get a hint of the way I used to feel when I played the flute in high school. I adore playing Christmas music with the band; that's always exciting. And, when I played a world premiere of a piece that had numerous piccolo solos with the NEYE at Carnegie Hall about a year ago, that was exciting...and really scary, too. Another great performance was the NEYE at the Loma Linda University Church. We played Dr. Virginia-Gene Rittenhouse's Oratorio, "The Vision of the Apocalypse." Dr. Rittenhouse is our conductor. She has owned and conducted the NEYE for decades, having started the orchestra at Atlantic Union College, and then moved it to Columbia Union College.

My teacher, Venita Jones, an extremely accomplished flute player who studied under Julius Baker, helps to remind me why I still continue to work hard at playing the flute and piccolo. My lessons with her help me to realize that there is still so much I can learn, and that playing the flute is fun and rewarding, no matter how busy and stressed I get from band and the NEYE.

My only hope for playing the flute is that when I'm 40 and married with children, that I can still drag out my flute and sit down and play some Bach or Mozart or the dreaded Berbiguer etudes.

What musical instruments do you play, and do you want to keep playing either casually or professionally during college/post-college?

If you have any questions about the band or the NEYE, feel free to ask!

Labels: Jaclyn Wile, student blog