“That first breath,” says Kaity Adkins, “isn’t for the audience. It’s for you and for the people you are connecting with in the band.”
She would know how best to begin a concert.
Currently attending Rogers High School, Adkins plays five instruments in four different bands and recently won the Puyallup Valley Community Band Scholarship.
She started practicing the flute in elementary school and now plays the resonant instrument in the Wind Ensemble. In addition, Adkins plays the piccolo, alto flute, clarinet and alto saxophone in the Symphonic, Concert, and Jazz Bands.
Learning the other instruments, explains Adkins, has taught her about small technical details like covering fingerholes on an instrument, the interpersonal dynamics of the different sections, and how the other parts of the band come together to make the combined sound of a piece.
In order to play in that many ensembles, Adkins enrolled in Pierce Community College’s Running Start program. This allows her to complete her academic coursework in the college environment while the high school supports her work in music. Her plans include music education studies at Western or Central Washington University.
Along with teachers, her mother Treva Adkins has been a tremendous support over the years by encouraging her to keep going in the beginning and helping her find instruments such as a clarinet at an estate sale. Once Adkins’ mom even called her at school with the surprise purchase of a professional flute. The mother was almost as thrilled to buy the instrument as the daughter was to receive it.
