To say Lily Muir likes to keep a busy schedule might be an understatement.
When the Bayfield High School sophomore is not participating in basketball, volleyball, soccer or track, she’s maintained an honors level grade-point average. But her most recent success has been through her music, in which she was named to Colorado’s All State Orchestra for playing the double bass.
This selection means her audition was among the two best at the instrument in the state.
“When she was little, she was like, ‘I'm gonna play the bass’ and we're like, ‘That's the biggest instrument,’” said her mother, Christy Muir.
While Lily says she only plays one instrument, her mother says she has the ability to play multiple instruments if she puts her mind to it.
“She can listen to anything and just play it---she doesn't have to have the notes,” Christy said.
This skill has allowed Lily to climb the music ladder at both Bayfield High School and with the San Juan Youth Symphony. She is now the lead bassist for the San Juan Youth Symphony and participated in the Western State Honors Orchestra Festival.
Former Bayfield School District Board of Education member Amy Davlin said there was no student more deserving of big accolades than Lily.
“I never would have thought I would have made it to Western or All State my sophomore year,” Lily said.
She said once she discovered the requirements that she knew she had to push herself to make Western State Honors and Colorado All State.
While Lily typically performs classical music, she’s really interested in learning Jazz. Music isn’t just an extracurricular activity for her. It’s a potential career path.
She has her eyes set on attending music school after graduating in hopes of becoming a music teacher. However, a dream scenario would be to attend a university that would allow her to further her knowledge of music while allowing her to play sports.
“I'm not a huge fan of downtime. I always feel like there's something that I should or could be doing to better myself or some other some team or something else,” she said.
Lily already has some experience working as a music teacher for the Be Frank Foundation, where she found joy in helping younger musicians progress in their respective instruments.
Lily takes pride in being from Bayfield and representing the community on the big stage.
“I love living here. But I've also wondered what's it like to be in the big city where there's so many more opportunities, but I feel like it's not that I've had to work a little harder but I've had to put in a little more effort in fighting for a spot,” she said. “As a small town kid, I've always been shy at my school. And finally, this these last two years I've kind of made my spot in my school and it's nice to know that like people know about this now instead of just this the secret little talent that I have.”
Lily credits much of her success to her family, instructors and teachers who have helped her achieve her goals over the last two years.
tbrown@durangoherald.com
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