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Community Corner

She Makes the Sound of Music

A Stevenson High School student had two orchestra performances at Carnegie Hall over the holidays.

Once again I’m amazed at the talent of our local youth. Buffalo Grove and the surrounding areas are home to so many kids that excel in music, sports, dance, debate and community service endeavors. I am lucky enough to get to meet these kids and write about them.

Devon Naftzger, a senior at , was recently chosen to perform at Carnegie Hall with the New York String Orchestra during the 43rd annual New York String Orchestra Seminar. She was part of a 60-member orchestra led by Jamie Laredo, whose members were chosen from auditions held in seven cities across the US. Devon was one of only three high school students in the country accepted into this prestigious orchestra, which is comprised mostly of college conservatory students.

Begging her mom for lessons at the tender age of 5, Devon played the violin until sophomore year when she decided to instead concentrate on the viola.

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“I liked the deeper sound of it (the viola) better. I still play the violin occasionally, but my main focus is on the viola as I'm planning on majoring in viola performance," she said.

Devon only played in the Stevenson orchestra for two years, but played in the Midwest Young Artists ensemble for seven years. She recently switched to an intense orchestra program called The Academy at the Music Institute of Chicago. There, she has orchestra rehearsals, music theory and master classes, quartet/chamber music instruction as well as coaching. I’m exhausted just thinking about all that!

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The dream of performing in Carnegie Hall has always been a dream of Devon’s, so the 11-day trip to New York and the tireless rehearsal schedule was all worth it for her. She says, “Carnegie Hall is practically the Mecca for all musicians, so getting to perform there as a high school student is something I'm really proud of.”

She adds, “One of the most exciting things about the program was getting to see our concert review and picture in the New York Times. I felt like a celebrity having our sold-out concert billboard hanging outside of Carnegie Hall all week. As cliché as it sounds, I'll always remember the first time I stepped onto the stage at Carnegie Hall. It was even bigger and brighter than I had imagined. I was really proud of how both of the concerts went. The final bow of the last concert was one of the proudest moments of my life so far.”

Beyond her accomplishments as a violist, she practices ballet en pointe, is a freshman mentor, a math peer tutor, a member of the National Honor Society and an executive board member of the Students Working Against Tobacco club at Stevenson High School.

Again, I’m exhausted at her involvement and schedule. I’ll continue to keep an eye on her as her music career progresses. 

As always, email me with any news, topics or ideas that you want to read about. Remember, I’d like to be the first to know! I can be reached at laurenbgpatch@aol.com.

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