Hi, I’d like to introduce myself to the WMWE webpage.
I’m Megan Haney-Claus from Charlottesville, VA, and I am a sophomore at William and Mary. At the moment, I am firmly undecided about my future major, but I’m sure that I will wait until the very last possible day to declare. I’ve been playing the clarinet for about 9 years, and out of all the groups I’ve played in, this one has been my favorite.
I decided to audition for the Wind Ensemble my freshman year because, to be perfectly honest, I was looking for friends. Of course, music had become a huge part of my life and I wanted to keep my musical proficiency, but I was also looking for a great group of people to hang out with. I didn’t want to rely on my hallmates for companionship, and I didn’t really see myself fitting into a social sorority (although there are some band members who are also greek!), so I wanted to find myself a different niche. In high school there was always some kind of special bond with fellow band members, and I was hoping that college would be similar. Well, guess what? It’s not just similar. It’s BETTER. I didn’t just find a group of kids to create music with- I found a team to play sports with, dates to go to dinner with, friends to hang out with on a Saturday night, and a family to grow with. The band gave me opportunities to befriend upperclassmen right away, meet freshman from a different parts of campus, and to get to know people with very different majors and interests. I also learned more from Dr. Bhasin in the past year than I probably learned in all of high school, and I played music that challenged me with people who inspired me.
This year is going to be really exciting- it’s our 85th anniversary, we will get to play with the U.S. Air Force Band, professionally record a bunch of our repertoire, go on tour, and have lots of fun times. Each year allows for plenty of new members and new sound, so I can’t wait to hear what this years group brings to the stage!