“Once I learned how to play my first three notes, I [started becoming] proud of every little achievement I made,” said rising junior Ariella Casabar about her beginnings as a trumpet player.

What started as a spontaneous decision to pick up an instrument during quarantine has now blossomed into years of hard work and achievement for this ambitious musician. Since picking up the trumpet in seventh grade, Ariella has made great contributions to our school’s jazz band.

After joining the Townsend Harris Jazz Ensemble, Ariella achieved much within the past two years, including performing at every seasonal concert, winning medals at NYSSMA, and contributing to the Jazz Ensemble’s gold award. While she may not play outside of school, Ariella’s dedication and growth have become an essential part of THHS’s Jazz band.

Learning how to play an instrument is no easy feat, but learning to play without an in-person teacher can be far more difficult. “Learning away from [a] teacher made it easy for me to develop habits I didn’t realize I had,” she said, also pointing out later challenges she had due to this.

Now, as a seasoned member of THHS’s Jazz Band, Ariella has grown accustomed to marking up her sheet music with reminders and little notes to remind her of techniques, expanding her range, and consistently improving her performance. “Whenever I play with ensembles now, I have to write in notes to myself in an attempt to improve my performance,” she said.

Ensembles are one thing, but she has thoughts on solos too: “I admire the art of soloing the most as [it’s] such an impressive skill to me.” She said her favorite song to perform was “Moonlight Serenade” a famous swing ballad by Glenn Miller.

“She has really good control, especially when it comes to classical pieces,” said rising senior and fellow bandmate Janelle Hylton. “When we had sectionals for our winter concert, we were very set on doing the music correctly to prepare for this concert, and I’ve always noticed that she has [a] very strong tone, especially when playing.”

Another bandmate said, “Coming into the band program, she fit in right away and quickly found her role as a significant trumpet player.”

One of her proudest moments is when she won gold with distinction at NYSSMA with the THHS Jazz Ensemble last year. “Playing alongside my upperclassmen in that performance was incredibly satisfying, and receiving a plaque with that high of a [grade] was unreal to me,” she said.

In a Classic article on that performance, senior Julia Waters discussed the significance of the achievement: “I was very happy when we got our ratings,” she said. “Last year, we [won] gold at NYSSMA, so I was surprised to see that we managed to get gold with distinction this year.”

Looking back at her achievements and goals, Ariella said, “Every performance I’ve participated in challenged me to improve skills that are valuable both as a musician and student. Looking back, I’m proud of how far I’ve come.”