Whether performing with an orchestra or playing a solo on stage, running for a PR, or winning as a team, Emma Leyva fills her days with high notes and fast strides.
Emma is a junior at Sahuaro and has made the most of her time by doing the things she loves most – playing the trumpet and running. She is a member of Sahuaro’s Concert and Marching Bands and National Honors Society, Emma runs in Sahuaro’s Cross Country and Track, and this year she’s adding soccer to that list.
Almost seven years ago, when she was in fifth grade at Marshall Elementary, Emma laid her hands on a trumpet for the first time – unaware of how important this brass instrument would become to her. She chose the trumpet because she, “…liked that it had three valves.” While the trumpet is her pride and joy, she sometimes wishes she could play the sousaphone or the French horn.
Emma has an impressive musical resume spanning over seven years. At Gridley, she was a part of the concert band all three years and joined the jazz band in eighth grade after dropping guitar. She was also a member of Tucson Jazz Institute during middle school. At Sahuaro, she’s been a part of the concert and marching bands all three years and plans to continue doing concert band until she graduates. Emma has been in the Tucson Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, or TPYO, since her sophomore year when she auditioned to be a part of the ensemble. She has received excellence in solo and ensemble, making it into the Southern Arizona Region Festival Band during her sophomore year; this year she has the goal of making it again.
Sunday, November 24th, Emma had a TPYO concert at Catalina Foothills High School, which is also where the ensemble rehearses and performs. “I love to showcase what we’ve been practicing all year, and I just like, I don’t know, it’s going to sound weird, but I just like the vibes of performances. Like wearing fancy clothes,” Emma said. She, like many other performers, experiences stage fright, but to get over it she reminds herself that she’s not sitting up front like other instruments, and everything will be okay because she isn’t the only one playing the part she has.
Emma takes inspiration from her trumpet lesson teacher Morgana, Sahuaro’s former band director Mr. Schmidgall, and the other juniors in the trumpet section at TPYO. Morgana inspires her because not only has she been supportive along Emma’s journey and is someone she can talk to about anything trumpet-related, but she’s also a woman who professionally plays the same instrument. Emma finds this to be amazing because there are not many women brass players, and since Emma is the only female trumpet player at TPYO, she looks up to Morgana. Mr. Schmidgall plays the trombone and has inspired Emma to be a better brass player since she first met him when he played with Gridley’s Jazz Band.
Emma is the proud parent of two trumpets! Her first trumpet is named Tracy, and the second, her silver-plated Yamaha is named Yoshi. She chose these names based not only on an alliteration—Tracy for trumpet and Yoshi for Yamaha—but also because her favorite Nintendo character is Yoshi.
With it being halfway through her junior year, Emma has thought about what being a musician will look like after high school. She plans to minor, or major, in trumpet performance.
Finding a balance between being an athlete and a musician is hard, but Emma makes it look easy! In middle school, she first stepped out onto the field to play soccer and run track. Emma continued that hobby during her freshman year by joining cross country. She ran again her sophomore year and joined track in the spring. For her junior year, she just finished the cross country season and is now playing soccer, with plans to do track again in the spring.
Even though her days are occupied with fun activities, she still finds time to enjoy herself with fun hobbies like baking with friends and skin care.
If you ever have the honor to attend a Sahuaro or TYPO performance and witness Emma perform, you will find that she does so with such passion and grace. Emma is dedicated to her craft, and it shows through the music she produces.
