Marissa Balonon-Rosen - Wilson Magnet

The Rochester City School District has some incredible student artists. Students like Marissa Balonon-Rosen. She's is in the I-B Program at Wilson Magnet High School and she plays a beautiful piano!

Marissa Balonon-Rosen does it all when it comes to music. Here she is conducting the band at Wilson Magnet High School. She also plays the flute and the electric bass. But it's her amazing talent on the piano that draws people in.

Three days a week...she studies piano and music theory in the Pathways Program at the Eastman School Of Music.

"I enjoy practicing, and that's probably one of the reasons I stuck with piano so long."

Marissa's been playing for 11 years.

"My parents never told me to go practice, I always just went to the piano."

She's disciplined.

She's sharp.

And she's full of passion.

"I memorize all the music so I picture the music in front of me.  But I also think about stories some times and that helps me make the piece more dramatic and exciting."

Out of 72 students across the state, Marissa was one of 11 chosen to play at the School Music Association Winter Conference last December. She performed at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center.

Wilson Magnet music teacher Michael Hillman says Marissa is one of the school district's finest students.

"Marissa is one of those students who goes above and beyond every time she gets behind an instrument."

Marissa's got her sights on everyplace from Harvard to U-Penn. Boston University is her first choice. She's got the chops to excel in any subject of her choice but will always have her music.

"I definitely want to continue playing piano."

Scholastic Arts Spotlight is sponsored by Canandaigua National Bank, News 8 and our sister station, Fox Rochester.