TEAM TSQ
Christopher Whitley - violin
Kumiko Sakamoto - violin
Luis Bellorin - viola
Titilayo Ayangade - cello
Seminar Members
Arjun Rajamony - violin
Sayuki Peterman - violin
Harper Lovicott - violin
Stephanie Do - violin
Kush Groover - violin
Saoirse Jordan-Wood - violin
Paul Furrer - violin
Camryn Cox - violin
Amelia Echels - violin
Sarah Patti - violin
Sidney Foster - viola
Alexander Zhong - viola
Quan Chen - cello
Lucy Yan - cello
Kailua Cheng - cello
Lydie Scott - cello
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What was the book you read last and would you recommend it?
2. Tell us about one of your favorite places.
3. What is one of your favorite performing memories?
4. Tell us the story of your name.
Amelia - Violin
1. The last book I read was a dystopian novel called "Perfect Ruin". I enjoyed reading it and would recommend.
2. I love NYC because of the diversity and the food! There is inspiration around every corner and so many interesting people.
3. My favorite performing memory is 2 years when I went to UT orchestra camp. I met so many amazing people and learned so much.
4. I am named after a part of Beaumont ( it is now merged with Beaumont) that my father grew up in.
Alexander - Viola
1. The last book I read was the Tower of Nero The Tower of Nero and it was awarded Goodreads Choice Awards Best Middle Grade & Children's. The book is by Rick Riordian and I would recommend it to other readers.
2. one of my favorite places is Angel Fire New Mexico because we go skiing there almost every year and the view is pretty amazing on top of the mountains.
3. I guess my favorite performance memory was getting a prize for the Chopin contest ( which is held every 2 years and everyone in Texas can enter it) for when I was in 5th grade and 3rd grade. Another is that I got the 4th chair in region orchestra this year.
4. I'll just do it for my chinese name cause I guess it's easier to explain. my chinese name is a large bird flying very fast upward.
Sayuki - Violin
1.hillbilly elegy, it’s ok but the movie’s better in my opinion
2.my favorite place is hokkaido which is a state in japan because we have a log house in the country side there and i really like visiting there and staying there. i also like tokyo because my uncle lives close to there.
3. one of my favorite preforming memories is when i preformed La Folia by Vivaldi at a summer camp when i was 6, because it was one of my first public performances.
4. my name is sayuki because in japanese it’s sakura which means cherry blossom i think and yuki which means snow. my parents combined those two words.
Paul - Violin
1. The last book I read was the Great Gatsby and I would definitely recommend it.
2. One of my favorite places is Laguna Beach, California. I really enjoy being by the ocean, as the rhythm and sound of the waves crashing is very soothing.
3. One of my favorite performing memories was when I was performing at a summer music camp at Baylor. I forgot exactly which piece we were playing but it was with Organ, which was amazing to hear and perform with.
4. I am named after both my grandfathers. Paul Furrer comes from my grandfather on my dad's side and Howard, my middle name, was the name of my maternal grandfather. It is a custom in Jewish culture to name a child after a relative who has died as a way to honor the dead. Both my grandfathers died before I was born.
Sidney - Viola
1. The last book I read was Allegiant, I loved the whole Divergent series and would most definitely recommend it. I’m currently reading Ready Player One, which I’m also really really enjoying!
2. Since I visited, New York City has always been one of my favorite places of all time. I love the feel of the bit city with all the cool shops, food, landmarks, etc. that you can visit.
3. One of my favorite performing memories has got to be when I joined the Longhorn Music Camp, and ended up performing in the Bass Concert Hall, it was a cool experience.
4. Sidney was actually a common name for a boy in past times, but as it came to my birth year it declined in use for boys. Sydney had become a popular girl’s name in the past decade at the time. and so my parents decided to write mine with an i to differentiate!
Sarah - Violin
1. The last book I read was What a Plant Knows, by Daniel Chamovitz. I would definitely recommend it, as I thought the book was super interesting! It talks about all of the different ways that plants communicate, which blew my mind, because it's not even close to the ways humans communicate, or even think about communicating!
2. One of my favourite places in the whole world is New York City. I was born in New York, so I will always consider myself a New Yorker, and there is just something about being in NYC that makes it special. I love that it is a city that has everything, with all of it's museums and restaurants.
3. One of my favourite performing memories is when I got to play Peter Warlock's Capriol Suite with my middle school Honors Orchestra. It's a really cool piece of music, and I enjoyed playing it so much! I also thought it was awesome, getting to 'perform' virtually with the TSQ through Cyborg Llama! It was such a new experience for me, and it was so special, because it had been such a long time since I had played with another person.
4. I am named after Hall and Oates' song, Sara Smile, although my name does have an h!
Harper - Violin
1. I read a book called Chains, it was good I would recommend it.
2. One of my favorite places in Colorado, we have been there several times and it is really fun.
3. One of my favorite performing memories would be an orchestra concert I performed at, and we played the godfather theme.
4. My name is Harper, I am named after an author called Harper Lee. She was famous for writing the book "To Kill A Mockingbird", my parents loved the book and name so they named me Harper.
Saoirse - Violin
1. The Alchemist by Paulo Cohello, yes I liked it and I would recommend it :)
2. Our cottage, it’s in the middle of the woods and it’s very peaceful.
3. Performing for a music exam and playing the piece I was playing at the time the best I’ve ever played.
4. Saoirse means freedom in Irish Gaelic, my dad is Irish and my parents loved it.
Stephanie - Violin
1. Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki by Haruki Murakami. I highly recommend this book!
2. My favorite place to be is my bed.
3. My favorite performing memory was our TMEA Region Concert in 2019. We played Polovtsian Dances and Danzon No. 2!
4. My mom just liked the name Stephanie… but it means crown/royalty!
Camryn - Violin
1. The last book I read was The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I personally didn’t like the plot, but I would recommend it because it emphasizes a lot about the American Dream and existentialist ideas and how most Americans define money and materialism as success.
2. One of my favorite places is my grandparents house. I am very close to them and I visit them very frequently.
3. One of my favorite performing memories is last year at UIL Full Orchestra we performed Gustav Holst’s Jupiter from The Planets and it was such a surreal experience because I was first chair in my section as a sophomore and I was able to really connect with my friends through music, and it was the last performance before the pandemic hit, so it meant a lot.
4. I think my mom named me Camryn just because she liked it, but my name actually means “crooked nose” and I’ve searched it on every website possible. I find it ironic because many people have told me that my nose is actually very symmetrical.
Lucy - Cello
1.Six of Crows was a pretty good book- think Sherlock Holmes meets fantasy amsterdam-inspired mafia
2. I used to absolutely love the duck pond at the Arboretum - such nice fowls, very to pleasing to the eyes, overall a very peaceful place to be
3. I really like the vibe performing in outdoors spaces, even if the acoustics aren't ideal - I remember I played in a park once with all my friends; we had a really good time enjoying ourselves.
In general, I think my favorite performing memories are social - the ones made with other people, because it is such a special feeling creating music with others
4. My name, 露 (lu), means 'dew' in Chinese - apparently I was born on a dewy morning, hence the name. Before he passed, my grandfather on my dad's side told his children that he wanted all of his grandchildren to have names with the rain radical 雨 in them (Chinese characters are pictorial and are composed of graphical components called 'radicals').
That's why one of my cousins is named 雷 (lei - thunder) and my sister is named 雪 (xue - snow)