Class of 2014-15: Gillian Frederick

STUDENT SHOWCASE: Gillian Frederick
Musician
South Medford High School

I was born in Ashland, Oregon to a very artistic family and I grew up surrounded by musical instruments and musicians alike to the point where music was absolutely ingrained in me. I started playing the violin when I was 11 years old with the Oak Grove Elementary School Orchestra but at the end of that year, I had concluded that music wasn’t really my thing. But over that summer something changed in me.

I found inspiration in movie soundtracks and Emilie Autumn and tried fiddling before settling upon classical violin. And that next year at McLoughlin Middle School, my skills began to grow until I was the principal second violin then concertmaster of the South Medford Concert and Chamber Orchestras over the next few years. As I started private lessons with Crystal Reeves and then Faina Podolnaya, my musicianship skyrocketed!

I juggled four orchestras my freshman year, and three now — SMHS Chamber Orchestra, The Siskiyou Violins, and the Youth Symphony of Southern Oregon. With the YSSO, I went from the last second violin of the orchestra to first violin in the symphony in my four short years there. As I got better, more opportunities arose including various music camps and concerts. In summer 2014, I traveled with the Siskiyou Violins to Los Angeles to play at the Disney Concert Hall where we won gold at the L.A International Music Festival. for my senior project, I am currently assisting my orchestra teacher, Zoryn Thompson at Griffin creek Elementary with orchestra as well as teaching private lessons. I am graduating high school a year early at age 16 so I can study violin performance and costume design in college so I may be a professional musician and costume designer.