Finding harmony as students and performers

The Virginia Tech Philharmonic Orchestra is the major orchestra that we have on campus. We have about 43 different majors since I started here. So we have a vast variety of students all over the campus, and it's open to anybody who is involved as a student. In terms of conducting an orchestra, this is really my passion. It's just very exciting for me to observe the process, to guide the process, and have a meaningful end product, which is our concerts. We grow together, basically. Since the campus is so big and we have such a large student body, I am convinced, I'm pretty sure that a lot of folks don't even know that we exist. There are probably hundreds of talented students who play an instrument and we have opened doors and would love to have even more musicians in our ensemble. This is the only school I looked at in state and I knew I wanted to play in the orchestra and it was a big attractive point of the school for me. There's a buzz that comes with playing in an orchestra that I feel like when the tympany is super loud or when it's super quiet and there's just harp or something like that, it could be so serene. But like you can hear your heart beat, to I can't hear anything other than the tympany, and I love it. I am a trumpet player. The reason I play the trumpet is it's a very brilliant and powerful instrument. Anytime you think of a fan fair, you're going to picture a trumpet in your head. I mean, I do this for fun. I'm not a music major, I'm a computer science major. But the thing about Virginia Tech and all the ensembles here, and especially with the orchestra, is that the orchestra kind teaches you that you can have this as part of your life, even if it's not your career, there's still ways to enjoy and really dive into the music. I think it just, it helps me connect to myself in a different way.