Originally Posted by GUNNER

I came from a musical family, with an Aunt who played in the Chicago Symponthy Orchestra. From about the time I could crawl, I would climb up to her big baby grand piano and bang away on the keys... well needless to say, I got much better and by 14 I was good enough that I was encouraged to apply to Interlochen.

It is widely touted as the best high school in the world for gifted musicians. I was accepted after I spent nearly a year putting my application together. For the performance part of the process, I played a classical Mozart piano concerto as well as my own jazz composition. In the end I decided not to go for a variety of reasons. I loved music, and still do, but I liked it on my own time and in my own way. I wasn't really a fan of the structure and conformity you had to accept in order to be sucessful at a school like Interlochen, so I chose not to accept the scholarship and just attended a regular high school.