At a young age, Anya Mazaris-Atkinson, Gorham High School (GHS) senior, learned to love music, from classical music in Jane Austen movies to listening to 12-hour scores and recalling specific melodies.

Anya started her musical journey in 4th grade. Since elementary school, Anya has participated in band and homed in on the flute. In middle school, she joined chorus, steel band, and jazz band. Since then she has learned to play guitar, ukulele, piano, alto saxophone, and trumpet.

Anya realized that she was serious about pursuing music after watching the “Lord of Rings” trilogy with her dad. “I’ve grown up watching that movie series, I just remember thinking “‘if another Lord of the Rings movie comes out in Tolkien’s Universe, I want to play in the orchestra soundtrack for it.’”

After this epiphany, Anya dove deeper into studying the flute. She started taking lessons and auditioned for ensembles at USM. By sophomore year in high school, Anya was so advanced on the flute that she switched to a flute teacher who could challenge her and help her technical and musicality skills progress more.

As Anya prepares for life after high school, she has been busy: “I’ve been zooming around for auditions. Some are in person and some are virtual, and I try to practice two to three hours a day.”

Anya has completed eight flute auditions at colleges within the span of January and February. Her top choices are the University of Southern California, Boston University, and John Hopkins University.

Anya is most drawn to Southern California as it will set her up to pursue a career in Los Angeles. Boston University and John Hopkins also have a strong appeal as they have advanced music programs and flute professors.