MINT HILL, NC – Three students from Queen’s Grant High School were recently selected for Honor Bands and Regional Ensembles at the state level.
Several Queen’s Grant students submitted auditions to UNC Greensboro for the Carolina Band Festival, which will take place February 14-17. Fifteen-year-old freshman Nathan Verret was thrilled to be selected from a large number of submissions from all over the southeast. At UNCG, Verret will participate in a 3-day clinic under the instruction of several fine conductors.
Verret began playing bass clarinet in the seventh grade. Music and band classes have always been favorites for him, and he especially enjoys playing theme songs that have been rewritten for band. When asked who inspires him, Verret turns to Queen’s Grant Director of Music Ensembles Chad Turner. “He has done a great job and helped me improve on my instrument,” says Verret. “I look up to him in terms of what a successful musician can look like. He challenges me to keep getting better.”
Verret hopes to continue playing the bass clarinet extracurricularly throughout high school and college. “I probably will not pursue a career in music,” he says, “but I think it is a fantastic way to enhance my experience while I am in school and even for a hobby later on.” He believes seeking out opportunities like the Honor Band at UNCG have benefitted him as a musician and encourages anyone interested in music to pursue opportunities to push themselves and grow.
A handful of Queen’s Grant students also submitted auditions for the Western Region Honors Orchestra for the state of North Carolina, a full orchestral ensemble composed of strings, wind and brass players from all over the western half of the state. Senior double bass player Noah Caldwell and junior trombone player Micah Burkheimer were selected to take part in the group.
Burkheimer first picked up a trombone in the fifth grade when his school’s music teacher brought in different instruments for the kids to try in an effort to recruit them for middle school band. “ It was during that class period that I really fell in love with the trombone because I was a natural at it, I guess,” says Burkheimer. “From sixth grade on I would continue to play trombone and further develop my skills as a musician.”
More than just a talented trombone player, Burkheimer is a natural musician who also plays guitar, bass, ukelele, banjo and piano. Although it’s difficult for him to pick a “favorite” kind of music, he enjoys playing and listening to classic rock by groups like Kansas, Chicago, The Rolling Stones and Fleetwood Mac.
“Family and friends have always inspired me the most, especially my two brothers,” says Burkheimer. “I would say that I am the musician I am today because of them and their influence. Growing up they were both in the high school band, so I’d always hear them practicing or I would go and see their performances, and just being in that environment for multiple years of my childhood and wanting to be more like my brothers, I started to develop my passion of music.”
Burkhiemer is excited to further develop his skills on the trombone with the Western Region Honors Orchestra. “The thing I’m looking forward to the most is being able to hear the individual parts of each instrument to come together and make a magnificent piece of music,” he says. “It is one thing to just hear your own part over and over, but it’s a completely different feeling to be able to hear everyone’s hard work come together.”
In the future, Burkheimer hopes to use his talents to treat mental health disorders as a music therapist. “Music is necessary for this career because of the way it affects the brain,” explains Burkhiemer. “Music has been proven to influence emotions through notes and chords that are ‘happy’ or ‘sad,’ and even help Alzheimer’s patients remember memories that were long forgotten.”
“All of these students have worked very hard to better their craft and to represent QGHS musically in this successful growing aspect of our school’s reputation,” says Turner. “I have pushed all my students to work towards being able to take advantage of these opportunities and it is so gratifying to see that their hard work and dedication to music is being recognized at the region, state and national levels.”
Congratulations to these student musicians on their accomplishments!
