Classical music is often seen as outdated and obsolete, but what if you could profit from playing these “boring” pieces?

Seniors Miguel Vivar-Alcalde (violín), Kashirim Nwobilar  (violín), Alex Asemota (viola), and Caleb Dean (cello) are doing just that. These seniors have been playing their instruments for most of their lives, the earliest age being 6 years old.   

The quartet Anything Goes formed in 2013 when the members were sophomores. No one took the 15 year olds seriously when they arrived at the wedding of Vivar-Alcade’s family friend, but when they played, the party was in awe at the maturity of the quartet. They received not only praise, but also numerous networking opportunities, such as designing a website to promote their business.

Since the wedding, the quartet often meets twice a month for a few hours, reviewing their catalog of music to keep the notes fresh in their minds. Their repertoire contains mostly classical music, such as “Canon in D” by Johann Pachelbel and “Ave Maria” by Franz Schubert.

Youth Symphony, a local organization that lets young musicians from the tri-state region build orchestral skills, and White Station’s own orchestral program brought them together.

“Without White Station, we had no connections to start what we started,” said Asemota.

The group claims their most gratifying moment was after their first performance at the 2013 wedding. The compliments  they received  boosted their morale and made them even more ambitious. Anything Goes then decided to take their group to the next level; they saw their potential as performers.

As the seniors reflected on working together, they said the most important lesson they learned was business related. The amount of networking for Anything Goes has taught them how to put themselves out there.

“Networking is a huge, important part [of starting a business]… being able to network yourself and knowing the right people to help spread the word,” said Vivar-Alcalde.

They have been offered multiple gigs from word of mouth and pure chance, but they are still looking forward to performing more in the near future.

Anything Goes is composed of all seniors, so they have only a few months left of their quartet as the chances of all members staying local is slim. However, all agreed they want to continue a quartet when they go to college.

Hopefully, Anything Goes can continue these endeavours as individuals and further enhance not only their musicals skills, but also their business techniques.