THURSDAY – On Halloween, SAS showcased another batch of student talent. The Tri-M music honor society hosted their first Open Mic, featuring a series of performances by student musicians. The performances ranged from vocal to instrumental and from pop to classical. Friends and faculty gathered at the common area to listen to their classmates. 

Jason Ma, a guitarist and junior, signed up to perform for open mic because he thought that it was a good way to “combine the things [he] liked to do, and if I can, put a few smiles on people’s faces while I’m at it.” He performed “Angelina” by Tommy Emmanuel.

“Open mic gives us an opportunity to share our love for music to the school community. As a classical group we also believe that we bring a nice bit of variety to the program,” says Lewis Zhu, violinist and junior. His quartet ensemble performed the finale of Dvorak’s American Quartet. 

Open Mic provided an opportunity for the performers to present their talents and hard work. “Not only do I like to share the music I love with students and teachers, there’s also a sense of satisfaction when we’re able to present a final product after hours of hard work and rehearsing,” adds Zhu.

After the performance, Zhu reflects by saying that his chamber group “thought maybe [we] wouldn’t be able to capture people’s attention because it was a classical piece. Based on their reaction, I think we did pretty well.” 

For other performers, it was their first time participating in an Open Mic. Annie Qiu, senior, says that she was “a little nervous,” but believed that her performance went well, albeit some “technical difficulties with the mic.”

Nonetheless, a benefit for Qiu was being able to perform in the presence of her peers. “It was comforting to know we were surrounded by mostly our friends and people I knew.”

“We believe everyone should have a chance to show their musical talents,” says Norman Wang on the purpose of Open Mics, sophomore saxophonist and a club member of Tri-M.