This is Part 2 in our 3-Part Through These Halls series on the Schaper siblings- senior Ryan, junior Andrew and freshman Emily.  All three are in the elite Symphonic Band together, and have individual stories to be told.  Check back next Wednesday for Part 3!

Imagine transcribing famous music into a composition to be played in concert.

For junior Andrew Schaper, feats such as this are commonplace. An avid musician since middle school, Schaper plays the French horn (and will soon take up a new instrument, the euphonium) and writes his own music.

Schaper first discovered his passion for music from a former high school babysitter.

“Back in third grade we had a babysitter who went here to Lafayette and she played French horn. She got me really interested in it; her name was Bridget Kelly. I picked up the horn in fourth grade in private school since we had a band there and that’s when I started music altogether,” Schaper said.

It wasn’t long after that Schaper also realized his talent for composing music.

“In seventh grade my brother brought this software home called Finale, which is where you write music. I decided to try it and I loved it, so that’s when I started writing music. Since then, I’ve written dozens of compositions,” Schaper said.

While Schaper writes music outside of school as a hobby, Schaper’s talent has also become apparent academically. As a sophomore, Schaper aced AP Music Theory, an uncommon achievement for someone so young.

“Normally people take [AP Music Theory] as a senior, or some of them want to get ahead and take it junior year. I had been anxious to take it since eighth grade because that’s when I first heard about it,” Schaper said.

He is currently a cadet for the class this year and will continue to cadet the class next year. There is no doubt that his peers will be able to rely on his expertise, since he was extremely successful as a student when he first took the class.

“I passed the class with a straight 94 percent; it was the easiest class I’d ever taken because music comes so naturally to me. I flew through with flying colors,” Schaper said.

Outside of school, Schaper often spends hours composing music. Recently, Schaper has begun composing pieces for a full orchestra.

“I couldn’t write for full orchestras when I had the old version of Finale but my parents got me the new, professional version for my birthday and so since then I’ve been doing a lot of full orchestra work. Sunrise in Space has been my very first [composition] for a full orchestra,” Schaper said.

In addition to working on his own, Schaper was also involved in the Young People’s Symphonic Orchestra at Webster University as a freshman and was in the All Suburban Band this year as a horn player.

Schaper also found time to study a previous score for a quartet he had been in as part of Solo and Ensemble Festival.  Reviewing the score inspired Schaper to create his own.

“Being who I am, I was studying the score and I found a lot of patterns in the way that the composer wrote the quartet and I decided to try to write my own. I did and I sent it into a composition contest at Mizzou. I have yet to hear results; I should hear on March 13,” Schaper said.

Should Schaper win the contest, his composition would be played at a composition concert at Mizzou. He would also receive a cash prize.

Even with all of his work outside of school, Schaper plans to increase his involvement in the Music Department next year. Not only will Schaper cadet for AP Music Theory, but he will also be a member of both symphonic and concert band.

“Basically, I’ll be cadet teaching and then my next class will be in the band room and I’ll play. Once that class ends, I’ll put away my euphonium and then get out my French horn for symphonic band,” Schaper said.

By putting all of his time and effort into his music, Schaper is on his way to making his dream come true.

“My dream is to be a film composer. Since I’ve already taken AP Music Theory, I can opt out of taking Theory 1 and 2 in college and start in Theory 3. That way I get 2 years ahead and I can move on and get a graduate degree earlier than normal,” Schaper said.

To achieve his goals, Schaper plans to pursue a film scoring major at Berkley College of Music.

One thing is for certain-Schaper doesn’t plan on scaling back anytime soon. If there’s one musical term to describe Schaper’s current path, it’s a crescendo.