Written by Newspaper Staff Reporter Yezielle Orengo

Ben Suarez is a senior at Allatoona and is in the Allatoona Orchestra program. He has played since the 6th grade but took two gap years and started again in 9th grade. He plays the Viola in orchestra, which is a bit larger than a violin and has a lower range. He also plays the mandolin, piano, and guitar. He considers Orchestra to be his passion and is heading to either Valdosta State University or Georgia State on a music performance major. He was in the All-State Orchestra, which is a competition of the best Fine Arts players in Georgia and performs specific pieces with only a small amount of time to prepare. He placed 9th chair in the string Orchestra which is exceptionally good. If you go through all the rounds, you were able to go to Athens, Georgia, and be tutored by high class musicians and conductors. You get two days to prepare and perform incredibly difficult pieces. Ben Suarez says the experience was amazing and would love to do it again. His teacher, Mr. Palmer, holds Ben in high regard and says, “He is extremely passionate about music, and he exhibits that passion every second of every day of his life.” Ben himself admits that he was not the best player in freshman year and has practiced nonstop to push himself. His advice to younger people is, “If you have a passion or if you just want to do it for fun, you just have to keep moving forward and to not stop and you can make it happen.”