Feel Good Friday: Hitting a High Note

TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) - A local student is hitting a high note, and preparing to make her community, and family, very proud.

Emily Lipper is a junior at Toledo School for the Arts. This fall, she will be performing in National Harbor, Maryland, as part of the 2022 National Association for Music Education All-National Symphony Orchestra.

She submitted her video audition playing the trumpet in May and found out she was selected in July. Her band and orchestra teacher, Jay Welenc, said this is a big deal.

“This is a pretty select pool of musicians at the high school level that could even audition, and Emily proved to be the top of the top,” Welenc explained.

Lipper began her music career playing the flute years ago.

“My brother had chosen to play trumpet. I kind of would play on his trumpet and he would get mad at me,” Lipper recalled with a laugh.

Though her brother no longer plays, Lipper’s dedication to perfecting her skills often means twice daily training sessions.

“I get up early to practice before school and then I go to school, and then I come home, and if I have rehearsal or whatever I’ll go to rehearsal, and if I don’t, I’ll practice more,” said Lipper.

Somewhere in there, she manages to find time to do homework and play the viola. But it’s that kind of determination that Welenc says is the composition for a great future.

“Emily’s approach to music encompasses many of the things professional use in their own careers,” Welenc said, adding this is the reason I became an educator.”

Lipper’s performance in Maryland is in November. She said her goal after college is to play professionally while teaching private lessons.

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