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JHS Junior’s Passion For Music Enriches Her Life

Hannah Hornyak

Jamestown High School junior Hannah Hornyak loves to play the cello. For six years, she has pursued her love of music.

“I started playing the cello in fifth grade at Persell Middle School,” Hannah said. “My sister played the cello for a very short period of time and I thought it was really cool. I was inspired to play from her.”

Hannah has taken that inspiration and run with it. She now plays with the Jamestown High School Chamber Orchestra and Full Orchestra. She also plays in the local community with the Chautauqua Regional Youth Symphony and WNYCO Side-by-Side Orchestra. Hannah has also participated in the NYSSMA solo festival. Hannah has loved having music in her life.

“I’ve made a lot of friends through participating in orchestra,” she said. “Being in music is a backbone for some kids who are not in sports or other clubs. Being in orchestra gives us so many great opportunities. I love playing beautiful pieces. When I play, it calms my mind. There are times when it can be incredibly stressful, but, in the end, playing pieces I love make it worth the effort.”

Hannah is not planning to pursue music as a career, but wants to go into sustainable agriculture, with the possibility of ranching beef cattle as well as training horses. She is also interested in working with veterans with horse therapy. She got her love of animals and agriculture through her ten-year participation in 4-H.

“Through 4-H I’ve done public speaking, community service, arts and crafts, showing dogs and horses, just a lot of different activities. It’s something that I grew up doing and it’s an organization I can go to.”

Hannah has also enjoyed her other classes at JHS with a favorite being Global History and Spanish.

“I love history and learning more about world history was incredibly interesting; and Spanish was simply a fun class to take, as it is important to be bilingual. We are lucky to have a lot of choices at JHS in our electives and to have an orchestra program I can participate in.”

Hannah’s passion for playing the cello will be a lifelong skill that she can call on anytime in her life. We also know we’ll see Hannah managing a ranch and pursuing her passion for agriculture in the future.

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