Every instrument suddenly becomes quiet, and under the bright stage light, he starts to play a solo on bari sax. Excited to show off his talents and skills, he tries to calm down the adrenaline pumping through his head. He is immersed in the music he plays. Everyone in the auditorium focuses on him and feels the music he plays, engaging in the moment of immersion.
Senior Philip Om got interested in music in fourth grade. “People from the local music shop came to the school to recruit students to learn instruments to join the school band,” he said. Then, he instantly got interested in joining the band, which was the moment his life with music started.
The very first instrument Philip played was a clarinet which was taught by his dad. He joined the school band and participated in school activities where he could display his skills. Then, in sixth grade, he faced a big turning point in his life.
“I stopped practicing clarinet because I thought I was really good, and felt I didn’t need to practice,” he said. “Then when the middle school band ranked other students, and in the ranking, I placed third for clarinet overall, which was not the rank I expected.” The result was worse than he wanted, which caused him to not want to practice clarinet as much anymore. Philip said, “In sixth grade, I almost quit.” However, he had a good teacher who stopped him from quitting playing clarinet. Mrs. Ofshinsky recommended him to play a different instrument – a bass clarinet.
“When you are a young clarinet player, there are things about a transition to the upper register that can be challenging based on a student’s size and physical development at that age,” she said. “I believed that Phil was more suited to bass clarinet that his physical development would be an asset to the instrument compared to normal clarinet.”
Fortunately, Philip liked the new instrument he had to deal with. “I tried it, and I liked it a lot more than clarinet,” he said with a smile. “It was easier because there was no competition at all.” He liked the situation that he didn’t have to compete with other students but could only focus on his own performance.
Starting bass clarinet in sixth grade, he continued the school-related music activities through middle and high school. He got into the high school marching band in eighth grade which was one year earlier than other students and finished his senior year as a student director of the band. Moreover, he participated in extracurricular activities such as pit orchestra, jazz band, and concert band for four years, showing his dedication to the school and taking every opportunity he was presented with. Through actively partaking in these clubs and activities, he can now handle various instruments other than just the bass clarinet.
“In the pit orchestra, I get to play multiple instruments at once,” he said. “It depends on the show but I usually play saxophone, clarinet, flute, and sometimes oboe too.” Philip explains, “Different songs require different instruments, and what instrument I play depends on the style of a song. For instance, for upbeat parts, I play saxophone; for lyrical parts, I play oboe or clarinet.”
His music career also continues outside of school. He tries auditions for county, regional, and all-state bands with his main instruments such as bass clarinet and bari sax, and he successfully makes it to perform in the band, meeting new other high school musicians and interacting with them.
As a senior looking back on his past experiences, Philip speaks about his future plans as a musician and also gives general advice to underclassmen students who are willing to take a similar path.
“In the future, I’d like to be a band teacher or director while also performing,” Philip said. “And for those who are going to follow my path, I would definitely recommend taking advantage of all of the music extracurriculars at your school. For Cresskill, there are pit orchestra, jazz band, marching band, and concert band. Also, make sure you guys experience as much as possible and maybe try some new genres or instruments. Lastly, listen a lot to people: online, on Spotify, and on YouTube, just listen a lot.”
