Eleanor Durand, a self-proclaimed eccentric, is the third in a line of band musicians that started with her older brothers Ethan, 16, and Anthony, 21 – a pair of prodigious percussionists whose talent greatly affected their younger sister’s passion for music.

Eleanor Durand has cultivated her passion for music, and specifically marching band percussion, since the sixth grade. 

“I picked band as an activity because both of my brothers are involved in it, and I kind of wanted to follow in their footsteps,” said Durand, a freshman.

However, the journey to mastering the drums was not easy. Durand said she got bogged down by the weight of expectations from her brothers’ former teachers and the difficulty of musical learning as a whole. 

“There have been times when I wanted to give up 100% because music is obviously hard to learn, especially when you get a new piece,” she said. “The teacher that I had wanted me to live up to my brothers’ ability even though I was like 12 years old, so I mean I couldn’t. I thought about quitting multiple times.”

She did not let these experiences sour her dreams of percussion. Durand kept a level head and persevered with the help of her brothers.

“I would like, ask my brothers for help, obviously, but that wouldn’t be very often,” Durand said. “I just told myself, well, one day I’m going to have this learned and no matter what happens I’m going to have to perform it, so just push through.”

Durand continues to practice percussion and is on her way to being promoted. She encourages others who may be struggling with music to follow this simple advice.

“It really just all comes from muscle memory,” Durand said. “It comes from a lot of hard work and a lot of practice. You will get a lot of music and it’s going to be very overwhelming at first, but then you just realize you gotta keep practicing then it’s muscle memory.”