Student Profiles: Daniel Oviedo (’21) and a New Musical Experience
Del Norte student Daniel Oviedo (’21) joins the All-State Orchestra in the midst of COIVD-19 restrictions and online rehearsals.
Oviedo has played the piano for as long as he can remember.
“I’ve always enjoyed it,” he says. “I enjoyed messing around with it and just playing what I want.”
In middle school string orchestra, he picked up the viola, which he now calls his main instrument. Later, upon gaining interest in jazz, he began playing the saxophone. “I’ve just been fostering those instruments, practicing and getting better.”
Currently, Oviedo is a part of Del Norte’s string orchestra, marching band, jazz band and jazz combo. He also pursues music outside of school—notably as a member of the All-State Symphonic Orchestra, a selective ensemble which Oviedo was accepted into earlier this year.
In a regular orchestra, Oviedo explains, one might audition and rehearse weekly, or daily. However, in the case of the All-State Orchestra, the experience typically only lasts one weekend. Last year, Oviedo flew to Fresno, participated in eight-hour rehearsals and ultimately gave a performance with the group in February.
“It was pretty fun overall,” Oviedo recalls. “I got to play with a lot of talented people.”
Naturally, COVID-19 has changed this year’s experience. (“All-State just got a little closer to home,” the flyer for potential auditioners reads.) Rather than one rehearsal period such as the one in Fresno, Oviedo joined a three-hour Zoom meeting each weekend for two weeks. The conductor conducted through a click track and students played along.
“So it was definitely not the full experience,” Oviedo says, noting that virtual rehearsals were less engaging, “but I still did learn some stuff, because there’s also clinics and master classes.”
[insert more info about particular clinic/master class… will ask follow up questions]
More recently, with Del Norte having reopened, Oviedo has returned to in-person rehearsals with the school’s string orchestra. “It’s definitely refreshing to go back to playing in an ensemble,” he says. But for virtual students, the story is different, he adds.
“When everyone’s playing in person, you feel like, ‘Well, it doesn’t really matter if I play or not; I can just turn my camera off.’” Still, Oviedo said it feels good to return to an ensemble with his peers.
“It’s been fun seeing [myself] being able to play more things, and sounding better,” Oviedo says in regard to his musical journey as a whole. Having recently committed to UCLA, he says that he plans on continuing music in college.