When Eden Rotberg was 8 years old, she decided to play the viola.
“I had done a lot of sports every year, and it just wasn’t getting to me,” Rotberg said.
However, she went to a violin shop instead of a viola shop, not knowing the difference.
“They’re like ‘oh, we don’t have violas. Do you want to play violin?’ So I was like ‘okay, I’ll play violin,’” Rotberg said.
After she got her violin, she began taking classes at Kingwood Music School until middle school when her violin teacher told her she needed to gain some experience playing with other musicians. Rotberg decided to make a change from her full homeschooled education to a hybrid situation, in which she took her core classes at home but took orchestra at Kingwood Middle School.
“I started out with one class in sixth grade before the rules changed that you had to be there for a certain grading period, and then once the rules changed, I had to take three classes for middle school and four classes for high school.”
Making the shift from total homeschooling to public school was scary for Rotberg, but in the end she says it helped her gain social skills, confidence and friends.
“In sixth grade, I was just really quiet. Everyone thought I was good…I didn’t really have any friends,” Rotberg said. “It wasn’t until seventh grade that I sort of opened up and started becoming more social and talkative.”
Rotberg thrived in middle school orchestra, making chamber for violin and even learning a second instrument: the double bass, where she is now in Sinfonia, which is the second highest class at K-Park for orchestra.
But high school was approaching, and there remained a very important question for Rotberg: What next? Evan Farmer, the orchestra director at Kingwood Park, thought he knew the answer.
“One of my class periods is going over to Kingwood Middle School, so I had a chance to work with all of the eighth graders last year, so I kind of already knew there was a potential for a case like this,” Farmer said.
Though hesitant at first, Farmer decided to let Rotberg into chamber orchestra, the highest group possible in Kingwood Park orchestra, an extreme rarity for a freshman. To both of their knowledge, Rotberg is the first freshman in chamber in history at Kingwood Park.
“She plays phenomenally, that’s not the issue, it’s trying to adjust to high school is a big step coming from middle school as it is, plus throwing on the pressure of chamber,” Farmer said.
Despite initial concerns Rotberg had that she wouldn’t be able to keep up, and being in a class with people four years older than her, she’s found it an enjoyable challenge.
“Everyone was really nice and I found out that I actually could keep up a lot better than I thought, so that didn’t scare me as much,” Rotberg said.
Rotberg also found that she was included in all of the activities and practices. She especially likes rehearsals before concerts.
“I love our rehearsals because sometimes they’re a little chaotic, but I love how we just laugh together and it’s so fun and we still get things done,” Rotberg said.
Another thing Rotberg has enjoyed is the “orchestra culture.”
“I definitely love orchestra culture, and I feel like it’s very underrated,” Rotberg said. “Everyone thinks orchestra is just where a bunch of nerds are, an orchestra actually has some of the best and nicest people you’ll ever meet.”
Her plans for the future?
She’s already made chamber a second time, and she’ll be doing French II, Art I, and the beginning class for cello. By her senior year, she’ll have all four string instruments learned.
