MUSIC: Eight Poly students receive the opportunity of a lifetime.
By Chloe Vega, Staff Writer.
It’s a rare opportunity to be born with a talent, and to be encouraged to cultivate that talent. It’s even rarer when eight similarly talented individuals are brought together to use their skills in the creation of an original work. For a group of Poly students, the stars aligned and that exact scenario played out.
On Wednesday, February 8, eight of Poly’s most promising music students visited the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus, a sort of charter bus outfitted with the latest and greatest in music and recording equipment. Music technology teacher and orchestra instructor Robert Harbereder was tasked with picking some of his most talented and dedicated students for the project. The group included Alexander Espinoza (12), Michael Utterback (12), Gabriella Harrison (12), Andrew Robles (11), Genesis Jacobsmeyer (11), Saul Ochoa (11), Deborah Platt (12), and Halana Macamay (12).
Upon their arrival to the bus, the students met four sound engineers, who informed them they would spend the next eight hours writing and recording an original song, as well as filming a music video to go along with it. This was a surprise to them, but they quickly sorted out who would be in charge of what.
The Poly students made the challenge seem like a walk in the park. After a few minutes of simply messing around with their instruments, the first verse was born. Building off of one another, this group of students, who had never before worked together to create anything, quickly pieced together their song. “Working with other people was a challenge, but we succeeded and I learned from the experience,” Alexander Espinoza commented.
The John Lennon Educational Tour Bus is a non-profit, touring across the country to provide students and their communities with opportunities to learn about the process of recording and producing music. For a few Poly students, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; for others, it could help kickstart their future in music. “If the Lennon Bus had pulled into my school, my young musician dreams would have sparked into an exciting future. I would have seen that creation was in my hands and mind,” Joshua Greene, one of the engineers on board the bus, reflected.
Poly is lucky to have such talented and dedicated students to inspire and impress us with their accomplishments. We wish them luck in the future, no matter what paths they choose for their lives.
If you would like to watch the students’ performance, the YouTube link is here.