First year, 1st chair: East Symphony Orchestra concertmaster and freshman Evelyn Holmes shares her violin journey

During her final performance for violin camp in June 2022 with her teacher Destiny Mermagen watching approvingly from the crowd, freshman Evelyn Holmes played Allemande from Bach’s Partita No. 1. While she was performing, all the nerves were melting away and Evelyn allowed herself to lean into the music. It was one moment when she thought, I could do this for the rest of my life.

Growing up as a dancer surrounded by a dance-immersed family, Evelyn has been exposed to music, specifically classical music, for years. However, Evelyn wasn’t always as fond of classical music as she is now. 

“I heard [classical music] so often,” Evelyn said. “Especially music composed specifically for ballet, [so] it didn’t strike me as particularly special.”

However, Evelyn has always enjoyed the sound of the violin. Influenced by her family’s love of classical music, she thought she might as well give it a try.

“Our family has a keen interest in music, her dad was a percussionist in high school and ballet has been the focus of both our lives,” Evelyn’s mom Grace Holmes said. “With music [being] an important aspect of our artistic careers, the thought of her pursuing violin was exciting to us.”

It wasn’t until Evelyn moved to Kansas City that her interest for violin bloomed. 

For Evelyn, a large part of her love for the violin is that she was never forced into playing. She was taught to be self-motivated in practice — seeing it as a hobby and less of a chore — which is a huge reason why she hasn’t lost the motivation in playing the violin.

“Playing the violin is something that I wanted to do and wanted to get better at,” Evelyn said. “I’ve also got a really great teacher. She has been really important because if I hadn’t had the music education that I’ve been able to get, I probably wouldn’t have stayed with the instrument for so long.”

Mermagen, Evelyn’s violin teacher, has known Evelyn since January of 2018 — when Evelyn’s parents first reached out to Mermagen for violin lessons. Over the years, Evelyn’s work ethic and her quality of understanding the emotions and feelings behind the music she plays, as well as the way she communicates through her pieces, has made Evelyn a teacher’s dream student, according to Mermagen. 

One of the best parts of violin for Evelyn is hearing the way pieces come together when performance day comes around. According to Evelyn, when playing in a quartet or a large orchestra group, it’s always satisfying to hear the sound of the group and knowing the work and effort that went into the final product of the sound.

“It’s a different type of exhilaration,” Evelyn said. “Hearing the work you’ve put in come together into something that’s really beautiful is the best part for me.”

With some of the rewarding moments in Evelyn’s life — getting selected to perform with the Overland Park Orchestra and being concertmaster of the Heartland Chamber Junior Music festival last summer — she has also had to face the harsh musician truth of imposter syndrome — the persistent feelings of self-doubt and inability to believe that one’s success is well deserved — Evelyn believes many musicians go through. 

The imposter syndrome for Evelyn comes from a place of current skill level and comparing herself to others who are on their own separate paths. To Evelyn, it’s important for her to come to terms with the idea that mistakes are okay. 

“I try to combat [the imposter syndrome] by remembering [that] I’ve spent so much time and effort working to [get] where I am today,” Evelyn said. “I trust myself to know that I will continue to grow.”

Evelyn was placed into the East symphony orchestra class at the end of her eighth grade year by her former teacher Adam Keda. Going into the symphony class, Evelyn wasn’t guaranteed concertmaster as she was in her eighth grade year. According to Evelyn, being in the symphony orchestra class seemed like a scarily unfamiliar prospect that would separate her away from her peers. However, she took Keda’s offer.

As the school year has started, so have seating auditions — the seat you sit in for the year that determines your spot or role at orchestra concerts. When Thursday came around and the audition music was released, Evelyn spent her time going through and playing the music everyday, tweaking sections, recording videos to get feedback from Mergmagen on the smallest of details she could improve on.

As Evelyn takes on concertmaster her freshman year, until next seating auditions in the orchestra class, she has grown to have a greater appreciation for the arts and how much work, skill and determination it takes to become good at something.

“I didn’t fully appreciate the arts while I was dancing,” Evelyn said. “I was taking it seriously, but I was in it for fun. Putting all those hours into violin has given me a new appreciation for the time people spend to get good at anything.”