It’s every musician’s dream to play at Carnegie Hall.
Dr. Maia Zander, orchestra program director at Malibu High School (MHS), felt her students were ready for such a prestigious venue and sent audition tapes to four major high school music festivals. They were accepted into all of them, and Zander said “yes” to Carnegie Hall.
“I am so proud of the students,” she said. “They worked really hard. It’s turning out to be a two-year adventure. We spent the previous year preparing for the audition and this current school year getting ready for the performance and raising money for it.”
Playing at Carnegie Hall will be the orchestra’s crowning glory since Zander, 38, took over the orchestra program in 2009. Membership has more than doubled to 95 under her leadership.
When schools look to save money, arts programs are usually the first to be cut. However, Zander said that the arts are well supported at MHS.
“School administrators have been incredibly supportive of the arts program,” she explained. “There were some major cuts a few years ago, but the recent administration has been trying to bring some of that back.”
Zander holds a doctorate in violin performance. She worked as a professional violinist while picking up numerous teaching qualifications. Her job at MHS is part-time, so she also runs a studio in Malibu, teaching violin to 25 private students, some as young as three.
She thinks music is essential for everyone, whether a player or a listener.
“Music and art are the things that make us human,” Zander explained. “It’s so vital that we surround ourselves with music everywhere we go. You can’t even go shopping without hearing music. It’s playing in your car and in your home.”
The chances of making a career as a professional orchestra musician are slim.
“In all of the full-time professional orchestras in the country combined, there are only a handful of violin jobs open every year,” she said. “And there are more violins in an orchestra than any other instrument. Which means that if you play anything else, there are even fewer jobs.”
Zander explained that performing classical music is one of the most competitive professions — it requires decades of training and thousands of hours practicing.
“That’s why I’m so impressed when one of my students wants to go through this process,” Zander said. “It takes a special kind of student to commit themselves to something this difficult.”
Two members of the MHS orchestra absolutely want to defy the odds and become professional string players: Helen Wuellner, an 11th-grade cellist, and Alexander Sudmann, a seventh-grade violist. Zander believes they have a good chance.
“As long as they put in the necessary amount of intensely focused work over the next decade or so,” she added. “Even in a creative field like music, those who work the hardest are usually the ones who come out ahead.”
Zander leads three orchestras at Malibu Middle and High school: a sixth-grade ensemble for beginners, one for seventh and eighth graders, and then the 37-member chamber orchestra for the best players. These are the musicians headed for New York.
Although located in a celebrity-filled town, MHS is a public school with a perhaps surprising amount of financial need among the students. The school is committed to making sure every orchestra student will be able to take advantage of this incredible opportunity, regardless of their fiscal circumstances. The students are applying for grants and participating in fundraisers, but they also need an additional $10,000 from individual benefactors to make this dream a reality.
The four-day trip in June includes completing a workshop with professional musicians, watching a Broadway show and playing at Carnegie Hall — a memory that will last a lifetime.
For more information and to donate to the fundraising campaign, visit gofundme.com/yfcdwgxh. For more information about Zander’s string academy, visit malibustringacademy.org.
