A young Ram Bonthala is pictured playing a violin. In this week’s edition of Artistic Expressions, Wingspan sits down with sophomore Bonthala as he discusses his experience as a violinist.
Ram Bonthala
Name: Ram Bonthala
Grade: 10th
Instrument:violin
Future College: Stanford
Future Job: business
Years of Experience: 9
What made you want to choose your instrument?
Bonthala: “My older sister plays the violin and my next door neighbor is a violin teacher so it was the right circumstances.”
What made you want to join orchestra?
Bonthala: “I’m in the Camerata orchestra which is top and I just have been playing the violin for so long so I wanted to join in 6th grade, and I’ve done it ever since.”
Are you considering continuing your instrument into the future? Why?
Bonthala: “I don’t want to major in music but if the college that I’m going to does offer it as a secondary option, I would want to.”
How does orchestra impact your daily life?
Bonthala: “It actually depends on the time of year because at the beginning of the year, that’s when region is, it does eat up a lot of my time. Like right now I’m practicing 2 hours a day, but other than that orchestra is just a fun time for me. Later on in the year you do full orchestra in which you get to play with the band and everything.”
How do you balance orchestra with your academic life?
Bonthala: “I have this trick that I figured out last year. Homework is something that I will always get done but violin is different. If I do violin after my homework then I feel like I don’t have an obligation to do it. But if I do the violin practice before, than I know I have get my homework done after so I made it kind of like a necessity.”
What’s your favorite memory in orchestra?
Bonthala: “With the seniors last year in UIL and full orchestra we were playing Shostakovich, that was peak, because I miss the seniors so much from last year.”
What would you say to people who say violin is an overused instrument and place a negative connotation on it?
Bonthala: “I mean a lot of people do play it, but people will have opinions about any instrument out there so I just don’t pay attention to it. In my opinion, violin is the hardest orchestra instrument because it’s hard to learn and it’s also very competitive. Everybody plays it so there is twice as much competition.”