Violist in a Jazz Band: Embracing Being an Outlier

Introduction: Why I joined jazz band

Starting in the fourth grade, I began playing the viola, and soon after I picked up musical composition as well. Being a violist, and most existing compositions for violists being in the classical settings, I spent the first eight years of my time as a musician mostly learning to play classical music. Throughout this time I played in school orchestras, local youth orchestras, and in solo recitals. However, by the end of my junior year of high school, playing classical music began to feel stale to me. I asked my high school’s orchestra and jazz band instructor, John Maione, if he would be willing to let me join the jazz band during my final year of high school.

He was somewhat hesitant, perhaps because he knew I would be splitting time between two different music groups. However, he was also excited at the prospect of having a string musician in the school’s jazz band for the first time. What an experiment, we both thought.

Why am I telling you this? How to be an outlier

I felt great excitement coming from doing something new. Even before I joined the jazz band, the prospect of being the first string musician in the jazz band’s history was very empowering and gave me an opportunity to regularly exercise my creative muscle. Both then and now, my career has revolved around mathematics, which involves a heavy amount of analytical thinking and problem-solving. While enjoyable, it can be very draining over a long…