'Exceptional Young Musician' Shows Off Skills at Special Concert

Rush School fifth-grader Genna Goins has been reading music since before she could read a book. So it was no surprise, her teachers said, when she was given a chance last month to perform with the Olympic Conference Junior High School Band.

Talented sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade musicians from all over South Jersey auditioned for the honor to play with the band.

Rush School’s music teachers, Chris Adams and Natasha Sigmund were there to cheer Genna on at the Olympic Conference concert on Feb. 5.

"Genna is an exceptional young musician," said Sigmund. "She has a high aptitude for music, but what makes her move forward beyond her years is her unending dedication, passion, and hard work. Seeing her perform with a select high school band is an absolute thrill, and no surprise to me.”

The audition was tough, Adams explained. "They only accepted 13 trumpet players out of the dozens that auditioned. As a fifth grader, she beat students in sixth, seventh, and eighth grade from schools all over the South Jersey area. She was required to play major scales from memory, a chromatic scale, and a piece of music was put in front of her that she never saw before and she was required to immediately perform a segment for a score.”

Genna said she was sort of nervous because “you didn’t know what you were going to be given.”

Genna not only plays the trumpet but also the violin, cello and guitar, and she likes to sing. She said she’s been reading music since before she could read a book. Music comes easy to her, but she confessed that the cello and violin are the hardest—though she doesn't really have a favorite instrument.

She is part of Eleanor Rush School’s Advanced Band, Music Makers and Rush School’s Fiddlers. She often plays with the middle school band and strings groups as well, and takes private lessons too. Genna laughed and said, “I have 10 million music teachers.”

She said the honors band was a fun experience.

“It was great working with the other musicians to learn new things," she said, adding that she hopes to be a part of the South Jersey Honors Band next year and would eventually like to be a member of the high school orchestra and continue to perform.

Her long-term goal is to pass on her talent to others: “I want to be a music teacher.”

Genna apparently also has star quality. At Rush School’s recent Winter Concert, she performed a Taylor Swift song, which she sang all by herself and played the guitar. Jennifer Hanna, a reading teacher at Rush, said she wouldn’t be surprised if some day she turns on VH1 or MTV and sees Genna's performance as part of Before They Were Stars.

It isn't always about music for Genna. She is part of her school’s Project Challenge for gifted students, gets great grades, and enjoys sports. But it's undeniable that the music is in her, she works hard, and is exceptionally talented.