From the violin to the oboe, sophomore Cindy Liu plays it all. Liu started playing the violin as her first instrument at the age of five.

“I started playing the violin when I was five, but I switched to the oboe in middle school because I wanted to play the oboe. It sounded cool and that’s what I’ve been sticking with ever since,” Liu said.

While Liu was in middle school, she was interested in playing the oboe. 

“In fifth grade, my teacher was showing instruments and she was like, “No” but then I insisted and that’s kind of how I ended up in band,” Liu said.  

Liu was determined to be in band. Even though playing the oboe wasn’t recommended for many students, she still decided to pursue it.  

“[She was against me playing the oboe] because every band doesn’t need very many oboes. The sound can be really overwhelming if there’s too many and so she was just trying to discourage everybody from playing it,” Liu said. 

Although she occasionally gets nervous when she performs, Liu spends time preparing by practicing and taking after professional musicians.

“[I look up to] the professional musicians that I’ve done masterclasses with or taken lessons from because they’re just so down to earth but they’re also so good at the same time,” Liu said. 

One of the musicians Liu has done masterclasses with, Elaine Douvas, helped her form solo pieces to creating her own reeds for her oboe. 

“[My favorite professional I’ve done a class with would probably be] Elaine Douvas, currently she’s the oboe professor at Juilliard,” Liu said.  

Looking ahead, Liu wants to continue her passion for performing in college by joining an ensemble.

“Maybe in college, I’ll think about joining an ensemble if they have one for non-music majors, I’m thinking about minoring in music or double majoring if I have time,” Liu said. 

Although Liu loves performing and may study music in college, she does not want to make it into a career.

“[It’s] definitely [something I want to do after high school. I used to want to make a career out of it but not so much anymore. I definitely do want to continue playing,” Liu said. 

Despite the obstacles she has endured with playing an instrument and performing, she believes it’s something that defines who she is. 

“[Playing instruments definitely represents who I am]. It constitutes a lot of my conversation starters and my fun facts,” Liu said.