“I’ve loved music my whole life,” Eduardo Pilnik (’24) said. “I grew up with a piano in the house and grew up noodling on the piano because I thought it was fun. I always thought it sounded good, exciting, playing the white keys.”
Pilnik started playing the piano when he was 6-years-old. In Grade 5, he learned the double bass through the school’s performing arts program, a difficult task that ultimately sparked his lasting passion for music.
“The first few years were probably quite challenging because there’s definitely an entry-level to getting into music,” Pilnik said. “Getting the opportunity to learn an instrument and make more music was a strong enough encouragement for me to keep playing and really work on getting better.”
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Pilnik said he “branched out from classical” and started playing the guitar. He said the new instrument pushed him to “think more” when playing music to deepen his learning about theory and chords.
Furthermore, in Grade 10, Pilnik was offered the opportunity to play the guitar in the Middle School “Spongebob Squarepants” musical, which he said was a “massively daunting task.” Nevertheless, Pilnik said this experience invigorated his love for the guitar.
“I’d only been playing guitar for two years, then I get given this book of 20 pieces and they say, ‘Ok, you’ve got a month and you play as much as you can,’” Pilnik said. “I probably played about half of that book, and half incorrectly. But, I mean, I just had so much fun with that.”
The following year in Grade 11, Pilnik shifted his attention from orchestra to band, focusing primarily on jazz music.
“I started to play jazz, and it’s this kind of whole other experience,” Pilnik said. “I started reading music. I started thinking about, you know, really wanting to play and really enjoying it.”
Simultaneously, Pilnik said he thoroughly enjoyed taking AP Music Theory as it initiated his determination to pursue music in a professional setting.
“I’d always been told [music theory] was kind of boring and everyone hates it, but I loved it,” Pilnik said. “It kind of confused me, and I went, ‘Ok, this is fun. I’m loving my time playing guitar. I’m loving my time in theory. Maybe I should consider looking at this more than just a fun hobby on the side.’”
Moreover, Pilnik said the opportunity to participate in honor festivals through the Association of Music for International Schools in Grade 11 further encouraged him to improve.
“It’s that same cool feeling every time to come together and play with other people,” Pilnik said. “To go in a group of people who really care about music and all have the same passion and desire to succeed in it is really inspiring.”
At the end of Grade 11, Pilnik enrolled in a summer program at the Berklee College of Music, an experience he said cemented his desire to study music beyond high school.
“It was that five weeks of just everything you do is music and everyone there really loves it and really wants to succeed,” Pilnik said. “It was the first time I really felt like I wanted to go home and drill scales for hours and play every etude that had ever been written.”
In retrospect, Pilnik said the school offered him several “pathways to channel” his passion for music.
“I probably would have continued to play in Band regardless of musicals and everything else, but after that first musical I saw how much more there was offered and how much there was to do,” Pilnik said. “Had I not had these opportunities at ASL, I don’t think I would have ever even considered a five-week intensive at a music school, but I did and I really loved it.”
It’s not that I ever wanted to quit or stop, but you just get this feeling that you don’t really know where to go.
— Eduardo Pilnik ('24)
Nonetheless, Pilnik said there are recurring times he has struggled with the grueling and frustrating nature of music.
“You’ll hit these patches in your progress where you feel nothing is happening, and it’s difficult,” Pilnik said. “It’s not that I ever wanted to quit or stop, but you just get this feeling that you don’t really know where to go and you’ve put all this time and effort into something and it just hit a dead end.”
However, Pilnik said the “supportive and caring” environment in the music community pushed him to persevere through the tougher moments.
“What’s got me through that is listening, watching other people play and seeing everything that’s out there can really push you to realize what you haven’t done yet and what you’ve missed so far,” Pilnik said. “You see that and you kind of feel this new motivation.”
Furthermore, Pilnik said the differences between jazz and classical music have always struck him as intriguing.
“It’s completely different from classical music, but it’s really, really cool,” Pilnik said. “You feel much better as a player at the end of it because it’s not just that I can read music, I can make my own music now. I can figure out what I’m doing myself, regardless of the situation I’m in.”
Ultimately, Pilnik said despite the difficulties in pursuing a professional musical career, he intends to focus on jazz in the future.
“I will always be able to default to finance or advertising or something, but only now do I have this chance to try something I love to do,” Pilnik said. “There’s no time like now to do what I love.”
