Louis Staton

Name: Louis Staton

Grade: 10th

Instrument: Cello

Future College: Northwestern University

Future Job: Musician and Lawyer

Years in Orchestra: 5 years

Inspiration: The musicians that I surround myself with

Favorite Musician: Brannon Cho or John-Henry Crawford

Wingspan: What made you choose your instrument?

Staton: “I was in a time crunch for choosing what I wanted to do in middle school in terms of extracurricular activities, so my mom suggested that I play the cello, and ever since then, I’ve fallen in love with the instrument.”

Wingspan: What made you want to choose to do orchestra?

Staton: “I wanted to do orchestra because it not only allowed me to make connections with people that would become long lasting, but it also enabled me to better my abilities through the people that I played with.”

Wingspan: How does orchestra impact your daily life?

Staton: “Orchestra expanded my relationships with people outside of the schools I attended and helped me build stronger friendships.”

Wingspan: Are you considering continuing orchestra beyond? Why?

Staton: “Yes, I think that building those close relationships are very important to be able to have. Also, I really like performing in an ensemble setting, so I think that being in an orchestra is going to benefit me the most in my musical journey.”

Wingspan: What are your personal goals for this year?

Staton: “In musical terms, my goal is to have a consistent practice plan that I follow each and every day. On the other hand, my personal goal for this year is to be more organized while balancing everything that I need to do.”

Wingspan: What is your favorite thing about orchestra?

Staton: “My favorite thing about orchestra is being able to experience new pieces of music each and every concert. You can perform music all the way from the 1700’s all the way to the present day and each piece will have its own style and character. There will never be a piece that sounds exactly the same as another and I think that the creativity that composers put into their work when making a piece of music helps the musicians have a full arrangement of repertoire that they can choose from instead of picking the same pieces over and over again.”

Wingspan: How do you balance orchestra, school, and any other extracurriculars?

Staton: “I always put school first. It is important that you focus on getting your schoolwork done as efficiently as possible; this means you need to be able to do all the work during school when you have free time and any leftover homework as soon as you leave school. When I get home, I have a full five to seven hours that I can do any studying, practicing and extracurriculars that I might do. Usually, I like to practice first, then study at night because you retain more information at night than you do in the morning.”

Wingspan: What’s your favorite memory of the orchestra?

Staton: “My favorite memory of orchestra was at my first UIL performance with Liberty High School. We performed the pieces that we prepared for UIL and the experience was very heartfelt throughout the orchestra. Some of the people in our orchestra started crying and some people were amazed and, to say the least, the performance on stage was a very wholesome experience for me and everyone there.”

Wingspan: What is your advice to anybody thinking about joining orchestra?

Staton: “Always practice your music for orchestra. I know that many people try to get away with practicing in class, but you need to be able to practice your orchestra music at home. The skill level needed for the music increases dramatically, so that means that you’ll need to be able to play at a certain skill level to make sure the music is played to its fullest potential.”

Wingspan: If you had to pick a different instrument to play what would it be?

Staton: “It would definitely have to be the viola. I know people discriminate against the viola, but throughout my years of playing an instrument I have seen some incredible violists with the richest playing I have ever seen and I would love to play the instrument if I sounded like them.”