By Anaiya Patel

IA introduces Music Club! A fun, interesting, and creative opportunity for students to explore their passions and express themselves. Sana Naveen (10) states, “Music club is a club where you can join either orchestra, choir, or band. The club mostly focuses on learning songs and leaning to perform.” Due to IA’s limitations in our Fine Arts offerings, they aren’t allowed to outright offer these extracurricular activities outside of it being a club. However, that doesn’t take away from the skills you develop, the memories you make, and the growth you experience along the way. The music club hosts live performances every month motivating others to keep attending weekly practices. It’s similar to how it’s organized in middle school, the only differences are the fact that students meet after school every Tuesday during the week. Sana says, “For band, we usually set up and separate into rock and jazz band, and then we start practicing. Each band has one leader- for rock band it’s Tyler. Everyone is expected to practice the rest of the week.” Music club is essentially the foundation to guide you to embrace orchestra, choir, or band – whichever best resonates with you.

Music club provides the basics and gives you the boost you need to get started, afterwards it teaches you to be independent and responsibly of your own performance. Gabby Apemekou (10) states, “What inspired me to join was the passion I felt and saw when I first witnessed them play, I was also looking for a band to join and this one was perfect.” Music club isn’t just about playing music, it’s also about community and about connecting not just to others, but to one’s self. These opportunities include playing in front of the school despite not being an official class and even being give the chance to play in nursing homes all the while receiving volunteer hours. Gabby states, “A typical club meeting looks like all the branches of the club then splitting up into jazz, orchestra, and rock, and then going over music and playing.” It’s the full experience, everything from playing in practices to preforming live on stage. Although our school is different, it doesn’t mean we can’t still enjoy the beauty of music.