Smiling through song, senior pursues two instruments

Senior Gloria Breck, then 5, nervously stepped on the brightly lit stage at her first piano recital. Minutes earlier, her dad had reminded her that smiling was of the utmost importance, so as she walked on the stage, she flashed a brilliant smile at the audience. She carefully took her seat right at the edge of the piano bench, placing her foot perfectly above the right pedal. 

“I took him very seriously and grimaced fiercely, like a lunatic, throughout ‘Singing in the Rain,’ and also through the plaintive piece that followed,” Breck said. “My teacher waved frantically for me to stop grinning because it was scaring audience members.”

Breck said that at the time she felt confused as to why she was being criticized for smiling; however, she now knows that smiling wasn’t wrong. 

“I pursue music because it makes me smile,” she said.

Breck first started playing piano 12 years ago when her kindergarten teacher noticed she had a way with the maracas during music class. Her teacher encouraged her to sign up for a group lesson.

“I was very happy, because I'd grown up watching ‘Baby Mozart,’ and now I could make music of my own,” Breck said. 

Three years later, her younger brother junior Samuel Breck began playing the violin. Breck liked the sound the violin made and asked for lessons too, taking on a second instrument.

“I love the violin for its portability (toteable to the park), sociability (seldom solo), and connectivity (of sound, but primarily to the listener’s heart),” she wrote. “And [I love] the piano for its versatility — in 88 keys lies a spectrum of symphonic color.” 

But as she grew older, pursuing the two instruments proved more difficult than she anticipated. 

“I remember throwing my books out of the window in frustration. I used to hate practicing because my mom nagged,” she said. “Perfecting a piece is as painful as detangling hair — I had to isolate knots and brush through them patiently.”

However, as they say, practice makes perfect.

“Precise practice ensures that neither skill set is half-baked. Time may be held constant in the extracurricular equation, but I can increase one variable: focus,” she said.  “By allotting energy efficiently, I’ve carried both instruments to a pre-professional level, in hopes that the two-part harmony continues into a career.” 

Music has forced Breck to learn to balance her time between playing in a school orchestra (Saratoga Strings), practicing outside of school, and her other extracurriculars, such as art and writing.

“Music absorbs a lot of time and thought,” she said. “I practice in chunks and estimate that it adds to four and a half hours a day, plus a little bit at school and in my head, a significant chunk of every other waking hour.”

Despite the time it takes, Breck’s passion for music has made its mark on her future. She intends on continuing music throughout college and beyond.

Breck plans to play piano and violin in a college and hopes to attain a degree from a conservatory.

“Music colors my life — it is my inspiration, sometimes headache, and always joy,” she said.