//Abbey Dougal//

Every year, the Mountain Vista music program hosts a feeder festival to inspire young musicians to continue playing their instrument into high school. For some of the high schoolers this feeder festival is what inspired them when they were young. An interview with senior Miriam Henderson shows how she stuck with the cello because of this festival.

Why do you like that instrument?

It’s the only one that’s really spoken to me I guess. I’ve played guitar and piano and a couple other instruments, but [the cello is] my favorite one.

How is this orchestra feeder festival different than the other ones? In past years?

Well, for me personally, this is my last one… I’ve been doing this since I was in fourth grade. So it’s really cool to have gone through all these years, and then now I’m here, and I don’t know it’s a great experience because I get to be with everyone in high school, and then also in elementary school.

Do you feel the feeder festival has a big influence upon younger kids?

I think it does, for sure, because when I was in elementary school or middle school, I would look up at the high schoolers and say, “Hey, I’m going to one of those people some day.”

Do you think the impact has grown over the years?

I think especially because when I was in elementary school, they hadn’t had the program set up, but they brought it back when I was in fourth grade, and so, I think it’s definitely a snowball effect to now when I’m a senior.

How do you think playing the cello has impacted your life?

It makes my life a lot better. I’m going to play for my career as well and so it’s really given me a purpose in life and something that I want to do for the rest of my life. Without it, I don’t know where I would be.

Would you say Feeder Festival has impacted your entire life from when you were young?

I probably wouldn’t be in orchestra now or I wouldn’t have had looked forward to it as much as I had in the past, and yeah, I would say that it has impacted me because of that.