Junior Finds Passion in Cello

As a fourth grader, junior Joe Levin decided to join orchestra, just for the heck of it. As any fourth grader would do, he chose the cello because it was the biggest, and therefore the best.

Levin now plays cello in East’s symphonic orchestra, the Kansas City Youth Symphony and the Kansas All-State Orchestra. When the jazz band needed a bass player, he stepped in after picking the instrument up this summer.

When Levin was younger he occasionally considered quitting because he had other things to do, but it was never serious. Levin has stuck with cello because it’s fulfilling, fun to play and is a unique talent.

“After finishing the last movement [of Tchaikovsky’s 45-minute Symphony No. 6],” Levin said, “it’s really fulfilling to hear the applause and standing up and taking a bow after playing for that long and having that much practice.”

Cello is one of Levin’s main priorities outside of school. He devotes his school time to the East orchestra and three hours every Sunday for Youth Symphony rehearsals. He also practices on his own but has trouble finding the time to do so, which he says is the hardest part of playing cello.

“This year, it’s particularly difficult with all the homework I have,” Levin said. “And sometimes I just don’t have time to balance practicing with academics.”

Lately, Levin’s practice time is spent getting ready for All-State chair auditions in March. He already made it into the orchestra, but the placement is not yet certain and where he sits will depend on this audition. He also tries to practice for Youth Symphony because the music is more complicated. If he has time left, he’ll go over his school music, which is usually the easiest.

Orchestra is not just hard work. This spring the school orchestra will be going to Philadelphia as their biennial trip. It’s a city Levin has always wanted to visit, and he always likes to get the opportunity to see professional symphonies outside of Kansas City.

He’s excited to bond with the rest of the orchestra, especially since his favorite memory of orchestra took place his freshman year on the trip to Los Angeles. The orchestra went to Disneyland for the day and everyone was supposed to meet up when the park closed that night. Levin and his friends were on their way to find the rest of their group around 11:30 p.m. when they realized they were lost.

“We were all dumb freshman and had no idea what we were doing,” Levin said. “So basically we could not find where we were going and had to wonder around the little town area around the actual amusement park. Finally, it was around 12:45 when there was an adult chaperone that finally found us. And apparently a lot of the seniors were out looking for us and we had just caused a bunch of trouble.”

Levin’s proudest moment in cello is also an ongoing one. He made it into All-State as a sophomore as well as this year. Three years is the most a player can be in the orchestra, so he hopes to make it in next year to achieve his goal.

Looking ahead, Levin plans to attend a college that has an orchestra and would love to play in a civic orchestra after he graduates.

“After playing for, I think this is my seventh year, I definitely want to keep going and not just drop it after all that work,” Levin said, “I do want to keep it up for most of my life.”