My name is Erica, I play the violin.

And I study at the Hochstein School of Music and Dance.

My teacher now is Mr. Marcos Kreutzer.

He's been my teacher since I started.

And it’s been 11 years.

I've been performing like, ever since I basically started playing.

And that has helped a lot going into this year, where I have my senior recital which is like 45 minutes of just myself.

It’s definitely good preparation to build up to that.

What context do you like playing in the most?

I definitely like the orchestral setting just because it’s very interesting to hear all the instruments blended together.

But I think that's one of the main things why I stuck with the violin, as well it’s just that I grew up playing with other people around me and it made me love the instrument even more.

You're a busy person, too.

You've got tennis, science, the Hochstein Honors Program.

I hear you're also a lifeguard, and it's swim instructor.

So how do you fit violin into that?

I never thought of violin and tennis as obligations.

Tennis, like, I get to spend time with my teammates.

And violin is something I enjoy doing personally.

And then when I have rehearsal and stuff, I get to spend time with those friends.

So it's like kind of, if I were to, like, prioritize different things violin’s definitely up there just because I've done it for so long and it’s what I'm interested in the most.

Music in general, it’s just like a different form of expression.

And I think of it as like, no matter, like, what you speak or, like, if you have different opinions or anything, music is kind of like universal.

Everyone can understand it in some way.

It's not like a sport where, like, you have to be like a certain, physical well-being to be able to do it.

But, like, music there’s something for everyone.

I've met some of my closest friends through music.

And it's like, obviously it started out as like a friendship through music, but it's like, widened so much more, that it’s like, we all support each other in different ways.