Chicago, Mahler, and Purpose

Chicago, Mahler, and Purpose



When I was in the eleventh grade, I had no idea what I wanted to do in college. In my high school concert band, we were playing a lot of serious orchestral rep, and I always really enjoyed it, but I never seriously considered that as a career. Later that year, we took a trip to Chicago that not only shaped my identity; it created my identity, at least in a professional sense.
It was a Saturday night, and we were going to see the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. I know this probably doesn’t sound like the most interesting activity for a high schooler in a big city on a Saturday night, but it was the highlight of my trip. We sat in the terrace, behind the orchestra, so we could see the conductor and I had a pristine view of the percussion section. They played Mahler’s Fourth Symphony, and even today that piece feels really special to me. It changed my life; this was the first time that I could see myself as a percussionist. After that night, I knew that this was what I was meant to spend the rest of my life pursuing.
I can vividly remember standing on the sidewalk after the concert and thinking, “This is it. This is what it feels like to know where you belong.” I told my band director right then, and he’s been nothing but supportive. Although the memory probably stands out as much more significant in my mind than it actually was, that night was definitely the night when the rest of my life’s course was decided.


Keaton N.