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The Official Student News Site of Parkway West High

Pathfinder

The Official Student News Site of Parkway West High

Pathfinder

The Official Student News Site of Parkway West High

Pathfinder

Freshman Samir Shaik plays Chopin's Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2 in a practice room. He spent weeks struggling with the piece, and it was a challenge to train his fingers to move faster. "There’s this one section where you have to play a lot of notes quickly. And I remember struggling with that for two weeks, just on that one passage, over and over again practicing it," Shaik said. "And then one day, it just clicked, and it worked well, and the feeling of satisfaction when it all just came together was really good.”

Composing his way through life

Tanvi Kulkarni, Features Editor February 16, 2022

Amid the mundane sounds of the household, the gentle murmur of the kitchen sink, the insistent ticking of the clock and the constant white noise coming from the television, a sweet melody rings freely...

Freshman Samir Shaik practices the piano during Academic Lab time.

Freshman Samir Shaik arranges future plans to become a composer

Lily West, Staff Writer February 11, 2022

Not many young students dream of becoming a professional composer for a living; among the few is the freshman Samir Shaik. Shaik started his composing journey in the sixth grade, including not only...

After the winter concert for orchestra in high school, junior Anushka Dharmasanam learns a new piece, Movements III and IV of Britten’s Simple Symphony. Dharmasanam played the double bass for Missouri All-State Orchestra. “I was screaming [when I learned that I made it], and I was at my uncle’s house so we all hugged and celebrated,” Dharmasanam said.

Junior Anushka Dharmasanam’s road to All-State

Serpil Kucukkaya, CJ1 Writer February 10, 2022

Watching her peers gaze over the instrument choices, fourth-grader Anushka Dharmasanam observed that no one was interested in the double bass. Viewing the opportunity to explore a different instrument,...

A graphic using album covers from our staff's top picks.

2021’s Staff Song Reviews and Top Picks

Achyuta Ambal, Staff Writer December 31, 2021

As a result of quarantine downtime, some artists pushed previous boundaries. Here are some artists and songs Pathfinder journalists have handpicked to highlight.

Coaching through rehearsal with the Jazz Choir, Parrish looks at what he has created. Jazz choir is one of many choirs Parrish directs and choreographs here at West. "Teaching music is still a rush every time I do it. I never count the minutes, I am never bored," Parrish said.

Music teachers draw the line between force-feeding their kids music

Grace Putnam, Staff Writer June 4, 2021

Imagine being a fly on the wall and hearing the voluminous notes choir teacher Brian Parrish plays while he is teaching his children the solfege scale on his piano, mirroring how he teaches his students...

After a year of closed curtains, the Theater Department looks to get creative with performing.

The show must go on

Elizabeth Franklin, Editor-in-Chief April 7, 2021

“A really long time ago, I realized that this is how it’s going to be—if it was for the safety of my peers and my family, then that’s how it was going to have to be, and I accepted that. But it...

An arrangement of the cover art for the songs discussed herein.

Our favorite songs of 2020

Pathfinder Staff December 31, 2020

The music industry—like most things in 2020—is winding down its most bizarre year in recent memory. But even during a time when life as we knew it came to a grinding halt, artists still managed to...

An arrangement of the cover art for the albums discussed herein.

Top five albums to come out of quarantine

Tyler Kinzy, Managing Editor-in-Chief August 24, 2020

COVID-19 may have prompted some musicians to postpone albums or cancel tours, but that’s not to say the past several months have been devoid of good music. Below are my top five albums that have been...

Sitting in her bedroom, junior Zoe DeYoung writes in her notebook while in quarantine. DeYoung won first place in the Senior Poetry Division of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra’s “Express the Music” writing competition. “The poem was so different from everything I’d ever written before,” DeYoung said. “It made me proud of taking that leap and writing something like that.”

Junior Zoe DeYoung wins St. Louis Symphony Orchestra “Express the Music” Senior Poetry Division

Lydia Roseman, News and Sports Editor May 11, 2020

Out of 2000 participants, 476 submissions and 47 finalists, junior Zoe DeYoung won first place in the Senior Poetry Division of “Express the Music.” Express the Music is an annual writing competition...

Take advantage of this time of isolation by trying new music, movies, shows, podcasts and more!

You have the time: media for when there’s nothing else to do

Lydia Roseman, News and Sports Editor April 27, 2020

With the Stay Home Missouri Order in place until at least May 3, we are all in desperate search of something to do. I’ve been curing my boredom with a variety of activities such as walking my dog, biking...