Superintendent’s Artist of the Week: Amelia Brown

Warwick Valley High School senior Amelia Brown chose to play the violin because of a radio station in England. She credits her success with the instrument to a music teacher in Warwick.

“Growing up in England my dad would always play this radio station called Classic FM and I would hear orchestral music all the time,” Amelia said. “I thought that the violin sounded so beautiful. That’s why I knew that was the instrument that I wanted to play.”

Amelia got the chance to play the violin after she moved to Warwick in the middle of fourth grade. Everyone else had started playing their instruments in September, and Amelia struggled at first. She said her mother often had to put up with her playing out of tune.

“When I got to fifth grade it was Mrs. Maynard (now a music teacher at WVHS) who noticed that I was very passionate about violin and she actually decided to teach me for free because my parents could not in any way afford for me to take lessons at the time,” Amelia said. “So she was the one who saw a talent in me and decided to cultivate that talent.”

Mrs. Maynard describes Amelia as an exceptional musician and an amazing student.

“Amelia is a naturally gifted musician and when given the opportunity to perform, she goes above and beyond anyone’s expectations,” Mrs. Maynard said. “She is a music director’s dream and I consider myself very lucky to have had the honor to teach her and help her flourish into the violinist she is today.”

Amelia currently plays violin in the WVHS chamber orchestra and symphonic orchestra. She is also a member of the Wire Choir and the Hudson Valley Ebony Strings.

Amelia plans to continue with the violin in college, but not as a music major. She’s going to Princeton University to study neuroscience. Amelia wants to try out for the Princeton Orchestra and hopefully minor in music performance.

Amelia’s interest in neuroscience was sparked by the WVHS Science Research course she’s been taking for the last three years. Her research focuses on how different ketogenic therapies affect people with Alzheimer’s disease.

“I hopefully want to go to medical school and then my ultimate goal is to go into pediatrics,” Amelia said. “I really like working with children. In the time I’ve spent interning in hospitals, I’ve always found pediatric units to be more interesting, so that’s what I want to do.”