Madison Darnall

when i was 5 years old, i sat down at a piano, and started hitting the keys. it took me all of 30 seconds to realize that i loved the gratification it gave me, and asked if i could have piano lessons. later that year, my mom found a teacher named Joseph Itaya. i started taking lessons from him, and we both quickly realized that i had a knack for music, and that i really loved it.

i took lessons from him for 5-6 years, and throughout that time, he became my mentor and close friend. he taught me that i am capable of so much more than i could have ever imagined. He moved to LA to persue HIS dream of working in the film industry, and i switched piano teachers. i took lessons from a friend of his, Katie Freeze, for a few years, but during those few years, i had picked up a cello in the school orchestra, and i felt that same fixation that i had felt the first day i sat down at a piano. a new day was dawning.

i stopped piano lessons with Katie, and took cello lessons instead from Taryn Webber. as with piano, i found that i had a knack for the instrument, and really liked the different elements it had that a piano didnt. it allowed me to express myself in a way that i had never been capable of before.

about a year and a half ago, i switched cello teachers to a crazy russian guy named Konstantine, and hes been helping me meet my classical music potential ever since. he pushes the limits that ive set for myself, and he, similar to Joseph Itaya, taught me that im capable of much more than i thought.

around the time i started taking lessons from Konstantine, i picked up a guitar and taught myself some basic chords. again, i found that i had a love for the instrument, and i started learning the chord progressions to some popular songs. (im a big taylor swift fan, so thats mostly what im playing now.) in the process of teaching myself guitar, i started to sing and write songs, and my friends started freaking out because apparently i have a pretty good singing voice (which i never knew until they told me). the more i think about it, the more it makes sense. i had been training myself to be a singer/songwriter for my whole life, and i didnt even know it. all these instruments and various clefs that i had learned, all the late nights and frustrating calouses, all the ear training that i had always though would be worthless, finally became something that i can call my future. (or so i hope...)

which leads me to my dreams of becoming an accomplished solo artist. i want to work in the music industry, and make a name for myself. i feel like i have the talent to do it, and i also feel that i would be a good role model for kids to look up to. i love performing on stage, and i really dont feel that i was put on this earth to do anything else. throughout my musical endeavors, i continue to learn about myself, and learn that there really are no boundaries except the ones you create for yourself. i am currently in the process of taking a few guitar lessons, and am going to be recording some things for a family friend, and in return, hes going to record some of my original songs, as well as some cover songs.

all i can hope is that this will bring me one step closer to my dreams of becoming an accomplished musician and working in the music industry. i know that my day in the spotlight will come. i dont know when and where, but it'll come. when you give everything you have to something you love, you figure there'd gotta be something you get in return, right? well, id like to think so. id like to think that all that hard work will pay off someday. whether its performing or working as a studio musician, i know that theres a place in the music industry with my name on it. it may take some luck, but when i think about it, i know now that YOU make your own luck. luck is just when preparedness meets oppertunity. im prepared, now all i need is the oppertunity.