Middle-schooler excels in music
When Whitney Daly hears music, her toes instantly start tapping to the rhythm. When listening to orchestra music, she quickly picks up on the sounds of the flute.
It's no wonder that the 14-year-old Columbia Middle School eighth-grader is considering a career in music. Her dream job would be performing with the Johann Strauss Orchestra and traveling from city to city making concert appearances.
"I've been in the band for three years," said Whitney, the daughter of Patrick and Jessica Daly of Martinez. "I play flute and piccolo."
Last year, Whitney made district band and sat first chair in the Columbia Middle School band. This year, she continues to hold first chair in the school band and was made first chair in the district honor band.
"I had to audition for the chair in November or December," said Whitney, who participated in the district honor band concert last month at Augusta State University.
"Whitney was selected to perform a solo flute Christmas piece titled All is Calm at our Christmas concert," said Katie Bennett, Whitney's band instructor. "The piece was all a flute solo with band accompaniment. The band voted for her to be the soloist."
Whitney Daly is an eighth-grader at Columbia Middle School, where she plays the flute. Whitney is involved in music and hopes to pursue a career in the music field.
Photo by Jim Blaylock
Whitney, who also is a member of the school's Beta Club and was on the Academic Bowl Team, also studies privately with a flute professor at Paine College and is a member of the Augusta Flute Orchestra. This summer she plans to attend several music camps and will perform at a wedding.
Whitney provides tutoring to the sixth-grade flutists who need it and works as a music librarian in the morning for Bennett.
"As a student, Whitney excels in all that she does," said Missy Dorn, Whitney's language arts teacher. "She goes above and beyond in every assignment, from daily work to major projects. She recently wrote an essay about the flute. When it came time to present the essay in class, Whitney not only explained how each part of the flute works, but she played a piece of music, from memory, for the class."
While Whitney, an A honor student, dreams of becoming a member of the Johann Strauss Orchestra, she also enjoys writing poetry and stories. Last spring, one of her poems was published in the Georgia edition of Celebration of Young Poets.
Whitney's school projects almost always incorporate her love of music. Last year's science project, which received a second-place ribbon in the school competition, first place in region and honorable mention at state, looked at how music affects the growth of plants. Though the project found that plants grow better without music, Whitney still believes that music greatly impacts lives.
"I'm planning to go to college," she said, "and I want to major in flute and music education and language arts."