Senior year is typically that time when students slack off, ditch school and live for their free seventh period. But not Aaron Dally. Involved in music, sports, Boy Scouts and various community organizations, Dally is using his senior year to explore the possibilities for his future.
Coming from a family of musicians, Dally started playing the violin at age 3 and continued to learn more instruments as he grew up.
“Music is kind of a family tradition, so it just made sense,” Dally explains. “I started playing drums in fifth grade at Tularcitos and took up guitar the year after. With that, viola, ukulele and bass came fairly easily.”
Dally has used his classical training in violin and viola to play in many prestigious ensembles including the California All-State Orchestra and the Cal-Poly All-State Orchestra.
While Dally has an impressive résumé, his musical abilities go beyond Bach and Beethoven. Playing in rock bands and blues bands have been some of Dally’s favorite musical experiences from high school.
Recently, Dally has been exploring other types of music, singing specifically. Taking concert choir for the first time his senior year, he was accepted into the American Choral Directors Association Honor Choir, a feat especially impressive for a first-year singer.
When he attends college next year, Dally hopes to pursue music at either the University of Southern California or Belmont College in Nashville.
“At USC, I hope to be admitted into the Popular Music program, which only takes 25 students out of hundreds, so it is extremely competitive,” Dally says. “At Belmont, I would be in the commercial music program under both viola and guitar.”
Participating in the Digital Music and Video Production classes at CHS has inspired Dally to ultimately become a film scorer. If that doesn’t work out, Dally sees teaching as another option.
“I have some experience teaching guitar in Keeping Music Alive and at Montecito-Sequoia family camp, so I think being a teacher of music or maybe history is another career option for me.”
No matter what Dally’s future holds, he certainly is prepared for anything and everything.
“The most important life lesson I’ve learned from school is probably that things almost never go as planned, so it’s important to be flexible and have plans B, C and D. With the number of times I’ve accidently deleted an essay or remembered homework at 1 a.m. or had completely unexplainable tech issues in Video Production, it’s important to think on your feet.
-Edie Ellison
