Student Musician Spotlight: Wyatt Muncy
Wyatt Muncy ’25 is a current high school freshman in Gryphon Ensemble at Sequoyah School. A trumpet player, Muncy recalls that when he was younger he was obligated to learn how to play the piano, which he disliked. By the time he was in 6th grade, he figured that it was time to try to play a new instrument, so he picked up the trumpet. The song “September” by Earth, Wind, and Fire inspired him to want to play the trumpet, and he remembers that when picking out a new instrument to play, that song came to mind. Muncy gives a special thanks to Mr. Yonkers (old middle school teacher) , who motivated him to continue playing the trumpet even during the pandemic. He has been playing trumpet for about four years now.
Recalling one memorable trumpet experience, Muncy relates how in 7th grade, “we were playing in a concert and me and this other trumpet player have this double page sheet music and there’s tons of notes in rapid succession and … halfway through the performance [the] music sheets fall. And because we played it so much, I did it completely from memory without thinking.” Muncy looks back on with fondness on the experience of being rewarded with memorizing all of his notes after practicing so much.
One piece of advice that Muncy gives to any future trumpet players is to take lots of breaths, because if you don’t take enough, the chances of your passing out are pretty high. Muncy notes that “run[ning] out of breath is probably one of the worst feelings ever.” He suggests that if you can’t reach high notes, do not push yourself, because you can damage your breathing and your lips.
Muncy believes that music has an important role in society and encourages everyone to learn how to play one instrument for at least a little while. He credits his appreciation of music in part to the movie Guardians of the Galaxy, which didn’t just broaden his musical horizons but also made him change the way he thought of music. It showed him that music isn’t just something to listen to, but something that can bring people together; in the movie, the soundtrack is a big part of the emotional parts of the film. Quoting the perspective of Ben Ede, the music teacher, Muncy explained, “Music is like a language that everybody can understand; music is something that will make you feel happy, sad, or emotional.”