Ariana Barrios

“I really don’t think I would be the person I am today without music. I started playing violin when I was three, so I’ve been playing now for thirteen or fourteen years. When I was younger, Songcatchers was really my second home. My house wasn’t really the nicest place to be, so I would come here almost every day for a different instrument. I remember I had Sister Beth as a teacher when I was little. She was probably the kindest person you’d meet. It didn’t matter what you did. You could have played the scratchiest E on the violin and she would have still called it beautiful. As a teacher now, I try my best to be like her. I don’t force my kids to do something they don’t want to do. I’ll try to find songs that fit them and understand them because they are people, too. I love to teach because it helps me grow along with my kids. Seeing my students improve makes me want to improve for them. I used to not like to read music, for example, but when I became a teacher, I realized that I had to get better at it to help my students learn. Now, in college, I want to study to become a music teacher. I seriously don’t think I could ever stop playing.” (November 2022)

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July 2024 Update from November 2022 Interview

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Now I am studying at Queens College in the Aaron Copland School of Music to become a music educator, and I have learned so much and faced many challenges along the way. It keeps pushing me forward to be better and continue to share my new knowledge with my work at Songcatchers. Thanks to this, new opportunities at Songcatchers have opened up for me. I am now a director of the orchestra at Songcatchers and the director of the Early Summer Music Program. Thanks to these opportunities I’ll be able to expand my experience and maximize my knowledge in music and teaching for when I become a music teacher.