The sound of music fills the air as a group of high school students play music in a string quartet. People laugh and dance, enjoying the music these teenagers play for events.
Jasiel Guzman, Yufan Zhang, Ashlee Salinas, and Lizzie Sharp made the decision to play music for the public in hopes to make some extra money, but the ultimate desire to work together stemmed from years of bonding and improvement in their skills.
“[We] have been together in the orchestra class in seventh grade, and we have had this really tight bond ever since then,” Guzman said. “Over the years, our orchestra teacher has put us together in this little quartet.”
Working together in a close capacity for such a long time ultimately tightened the group’s bond even more. This close-knit relationship served as an opportunity for the quartet to grow with each other.
“You walk in every day, they’re smiling, have a good attitude,” Orchestra director Steve Bennett said. “It’s just been great to see them growing up and really finding the love of music and enjoying playing their instruments.”
This positive attitude and passion for the art of music helps the students to feel a deep sense of unity within their group.
“I really do love being in this group, because I feel like there is some sort of connection, friend wise, or maybe even a family dynamic,” Salinas said. “Had I not been in this group, things just wouldn’t be the same.”
Despite the unity and strength of their bond, challenges presented themselves many times for this group of students. As students left the orchestra group, Zhang began to lose hope in her future as an orchestra player. Fortunately, she did not let this hardship end her career as an orchestra player, and she pushed through so that she could take part in the quartet group.
“So many beginners came and we felt like we had kind of outgrown all of the stuff there,” Zhang said. “But the thing that kept us here was the quartet.”
The quartet may serve as the driving factor that kept these students in the orchestra, but the close friendships they formed outside of the band served as a safe space and place for this quartet to rely on.
“We’ve become close friends,” Sharp said. “We will hang out in our free time. We won’t be practicing, we’ll just hang out.”
Working and playing music together certainly played a huge role in boosting the friendship between this quartet. Although there were rough patches, the quartet would not trade their experiences for the world, and they are grateful for the memories they’ve gotten to share.
“They make it all really fun,” Guzman said. “We’re family, honestly, and I couldn’t do it with anyone else.”
