On A Different Note

By: Kelly Wright

Photos by: Tina Dang

 

Elizabeth Feeney was excited to sing a vocal duet with her very own sister at a state music competition.

This year, the girls placed third at the state Soul and Ensemble of 2015 competition, and the year before, they placed second.

The art of performing music brings tremendous amounts of joy to Elizabeth Feeney.

From playing the viola, to singing in the choir, to playing an ensemble of percussion, to a little bit of piano, and the violin for a couple years, the Mount Vernon High School senior loves to play music.

And the rules for the ensemble competition were simple, perform two songs, receive some constructed criticism from the judges, and a rating of one to five, one being the best and five being the worst. Feeney was happy to have placed well.

As of now, Feeney only plays two instruments, the viola and percussion.

But she played the violin for about five years, and knows a little bit of piano, although she doesn’t perform piano in concerts, orchestra, etc.

When she got up to high school though, Feeney switched to violin, and this is her first year of doing percussion.

Despite her strong interest in music, Feeney has a different career in mind for the future. For her main career, she would like to become a mortician by studying mortuary science and receiving an embalmer’s license, and is also looking to job shadow a mortician.

Feeney also pursues diverse hobbies. She’s into playing classic Nintendo games such as the original Super Smash Brothers, Super Mario Brothers, and the whole Legend of Zelda series in general.  Feeney also used to be into archery, but has since stopped due to not being able to afford a good bow.

Feeney’s biggest struggle is connecting with people her age, she said, because she talks with adults all the time, but she doesn’t mind and she’s pretty cool with it.

She encourages other students to pursue diverse interests as well.  “just be yourself.”