Arts Student of the Week: Sebastian Aguirre

During the first week of December, the Niwot High School Jazz Band played in an unusual venue. Instead of performing in the school auditorium, where such performances have been held in the past, the band played on the Learning Stairs, the central staircase at NHS sweeping up from the ground level.

"It was really cool," said alto saxophonist Sebastian Aguirre, this week's Arts Student of the Week. "because there were a lot of people. In the auditorium you can't see people because of all the light. But in the Learning Stairs I could see them, so it gave me a little bit more of a thrill. And I think that's why it was more memorable."

As a child growing up in El Salvador, Aguirre started playing music when he was very young. In elementary school, at Academia Británica Cuscatleca, Aguirre had an affinity for the drums, which was his earliest instrument. Aguirre was ready to enter sixth grade when the family moved to the United States, where he attended Sunset Middle School. When he entered sixth grade the band teacher said, 'You can't play drums. But you can play other percussion instruments." Sebastian had other ideas. "I don't really want to play those instruments," he told his teacher. "My uncle plays the saxophone, so I might as well try that."

He chose the alto saxophone and studied as a big band player in middle school. He joined the Jazz Band in eighth grade, where he has become an integral part of the ensemble during his tenure. "It just kind of appealed to me more. And I like the sort of freestyle that jazz has, compared to the big band stuff, which is more organized. And there's just a fundamental difference between the two. I like jazz better."

"Sebastian has really come into his own as a lead alto player and a dynamic performer/soloist," said Wade Hendricks, the director of bands at NHS.

"What we do is combos," Aguirre explained, "smaller groups. We go to restaurants and perform. It's different because it's not just our parents. There are random people there and they get to hear our music."

The music program at NHS has inspired Aguirre to strive to continually improve as an ensemble player. "I enjoy playing," he said. "I just play in the jazz band. I will say it's fun, but it's also serious, competitive. The band tries to be the best they can be. Mr. Hendricks pushes us to be the best musicians and students that we can be. So while it's fun, it's also serious. It's a good level of playing."

Although Aguirre listens to classical music, he confessed that it is not a big influence on his playing. Mostly he enjoys listening to jazz standards like John Coltrane and Charlie Parker. I "like to listen to them, but I like to craft my own individual style. I like playing the old standards, because I know there's a lot of sheet music for them. But I also know that through standards, you develop certain skills, especially chord playing."

One performance he recalls clearly was a night at The Wild Game in Longmont. "One of the things they tell us to do is listen to players and try to mimic them. I certainly try to do that, mimic what I hear. What I hear when I listen to standards."

Aguirre thinks seriously about his ensemble playing. "Jazz is what it feels like to be free, but there is still organization to the thing. You'll definitely hear the melody, those catchy parts of the regular song, but then there will also be times when the focus is on one player, and the player gets to take the song in whatever direction he wants. And I would say my playing fits in that directional change, where I kind of choose where I want to take the song and how I want to make the crowd feel."

Recently, Sebastian auditioned and was selected to play lead alto in the Combined League Honor Jazz Band at Frederick High School. "This was a big honor as the competition, as usual," Hendricks said, "was fierce with 25-plus high schools involved."

"It was fun," Aguirre recalled. "I got to play at a higher level, I guess (with) more dedicated people. So I definitely felt like a level change. It was more pressing; it was more demanding. But, I could hear the difference in the level of playing, so I enjoyed playing with musically inclined people who really enjoy playing and who really devoted themselves to it."

"Sebastian works hard, is a collegial team member, and a pleasure to work with," Hendricks said.

Aguirre also plays soccer for NHS, and, in his free time, he expresses an interest in other forms of art. "I'm kind of a creative person. I like to write, take photos. I like photography," he said. Although he does not write songs, he has explored writing poetry. "Like on my own," he confessed. "I wouldn't show them to anybody."

The NHS senior has applied to Stanford, CU Boulder, DU, UCCS in Colorado Springs and Utah, and he also plans to apply to the University of Chicago. "I think I'll be trying to go into a medical field. In an ideal world, I'll become a surgeon, a specialized surgeon. I always thought of becoming a neurosurgeon, but that's hard. I'll definitely keep playing my saxophone, but I don't think I'll major in it or try to become a professional. I'd certainly like to keep doing gigs, and like keep practicing because it's just part of who I am now."