Now in her junior year at Hamilton County Collegiate High at Chattanooga State, Sasha Hitachi is has continued to build onto her impressive resume as a flutist. Earlier this year, Sasha was only one of six applicants from the region selected to play in a prestigious masterclass with renowned Swiss flutist Emmanuel Pahud. This summer, Sasha spent part of her school break traveling and performing with the National Youth Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in New York and the New World Symphony Center in Miami.

Sasha appreciated the same intensity and passion that her fellow musicians exhibited and described the experience as “incredible!” She went on to explain that prior to touring and playing concerts, they participated in a two-week residency at Purchase College in New York. “While at at Purchase, I averaged playing seven to eight hours a day, and had to be very focused on the orchestral music as well as my personal practice,” shares Sasha. 

Once they had finished with this part of the program, it was on to Miami for another week of rehearsals before meeting with conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto, and guest artist/ composer, Gabriela Montero.

At Carnegie Hall, Sasha worked with Demarre McGill, a leading soloist, chamber and orchestra musician, as well as current principal flute of the Seattle Symphony. She described McGill as an amazing performer and teacher. “He has such a unique way of looking at music and pieces, and is able to present abstract concepts in a very understandable way. He has this incredible energy both in his playing and overall presence, and I loved getting to learn from him,” states Sasha.

While this opportunity helped her to grow in her overall playing ability and musicality, Sasha is now back at school and settled into life at Collegiate High for the next couple years. Never one to be idle, she expects to focus on competition, audition repertoire, and tour different colleges before graduating in 2021.

Collegiate High was recently named a Level 5 TN Reward School for the 2018-2019 academic year and Sasha was proud to be one of the 175 students recognized for this achievement.

For more information on Hamilton County Collegiate High at Chattanooga State, call (423) 697-4492 or visit https://www.chattanoogastate.edu/early-college/collegiate-high.