WVCSD Artist of the Week: Lylah Colon
Warwick Valley Middle School student Lylah Colon has blown away her general music teacher Shane Peters with her talent and enthusiastic commitment to the piano, an instrument she just began learning this year. In just two semesters, she has become what Mr. Peters calls “an unstoppable force” on the instrument. Lylah, who said she’s always been the creative type, is also an avid writer and loves putting her ideas into words and music. She has big plans for creating her own original work!
As part of Mr. Peters’ seventh-grade general music class, students learn the basics of piano for the first time. Lylah dove right in and quickly realized she had an innate talent for, and love of, the ivories. And right away, she began to surpass any expectations.
“After a couple weeks, Lylah got a keyboard of her own at home and immediately got to work,” said Mr. Peters. “I’s a testament to Lylah’s work ethic and passion for things that she loves.”
Once she’d started working with Mr. Peters, Lylah was hooked. She studied and practiced, and it wasn’t long before she impressed not only Mr. Peters, but her family too.
“That’s when I told my dad that I wanted to be in piano lessons,” Lylah said, adding that they enrolled her for private lessons at the Rock Underground Music School of Greenwood Lake. “I have a guitar at home, too, so I plan to learn guitar.”
Mr. Peters was impressed by Lylah’s ability to read and perform the sheet music he provided to her in class, but has been really impressed by the creative initiative she showed by beginning to compose her own music so quickly.
“And it is amazing,” Mr. Peters said. “It always brings such a smile to my face to see what Lylah has been working on outside of the classroom. Her passion for music-making fills me with so much joy.”
Lylah’s formal study on piano has been focused mainly on classical music. She names Beethoven and Mozart as influences and has already made strides in performing some pretty advanced pieces.
“I’m already working on a song called Gymnopédie #1 by Erik Satie,” Lylah said. “I like classical music, but I also plan to learn other kinds of music, too. Like, every day when I’m going to school or when I go get home, I listen to a song called Bittersweet Symphony.”
Lylah’s plan is to continue making her own songs, and wants to play all of the instruments, piano and guitar and drums. When she’s not practicing piano, Lylah likes to work on her writing. She is currently developing a story called Penny. She is writing and illustrating the story about her titular hero and her twin brother Peter, and plans to make it into a book.
She shared some plot points with us as a preview, but no spoilers.
“So, Penny Simmons is a 13-year-old girl who has a twin brother, Peter. One day, while they’re playing in their tree house, a mirror turns into a portal, and they go inside of it,” Lylah explained. “Inside the portal, they stumble across a cabin in a forest. Penny goes inside, and then Peter goes into another room, and that’s when he disappears all of a sudden!”
The plot of Penny is still in development, but Lylah already has plans for her follow-up book, which will include a whole new set of characters and settings. She’s also got her sights set on eighth grade, when she plans to join the WVMS Guitar Club. Mr. Peters knows for sure that whatever Lylah wants to do creatively, she can accomplish it.
“To see a student go from never having played a piano before to flourishing in a few short months is an educational feat that is quite impressive,” Mr. Peters said.