14-year-old violinist Maeve Nagel-Frazel just completed her final year at Sunnyside Environmental School – a “K-through-8” school which requires all graduating 8th graders to write and deliver a speech which explores a topic they care deeply about. Maeve chose to speak about her love of classical music. In this episode we’ll hear her read this moving speech.
Maeve’s school (Sunnyside Environmental) doesn’t have a music program. Her friends don’t really know anything about classical music, so she worked VERY hard on this speech, choosing words carefully, to ensure that those assembled –friends, faculty, parents— would understand why classical music is so important to her.
Maeve plays violin in the Concert Orchestra at the Metropolitan Youth Symphony.
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This episode was rebroadcast in September 2015, when Maeve had just entered her sophomore year at St. Mary’s Academy. She sent us this update:
“I am now the concertmaster of the St. Mary’s Academy Orchestra. While the St. Mary’s instrumental music program is rather small, I’ve created a small chamber music ensemble consisting of a few St. Mary’s students. This ensemble is the first of its kind in recent history and the instrumental music directors hope that someday St. Mary’s can have a thriving Chamber music program. I have also enjoyed sharing my musical talents at various St. Mary’s events such as fundraisers and luncheons. St. Mary’s is one of the few high schools in the Portland area that still has a orchestra and I am grateful for the opportunities it has given me such as being a part of the Oregon All State Orchestra last year, and participating in the OSAA solo competition. My hope is that over time the St. Mary’s orchestra will grow into a larger, thriving music program consisting of talented young ladies from the Portland area.”
