Music Prodigy? Case Dismissed! A Deep Dive on Anne Wu

By Isabella Chan

Redwood is scattered with many talented students who pursue the corners of activities offered at our school. But those who decide to excel are the ones who bring out the best in every art and educational form.

Anne Wu, ‘26, is a 16-year-old musical prodigy and legal attorney in the making. She plays numerous amounts of percussive instruments ranging from marimba, drums, and many more while at the same time contributing to Redwood’s mock trial team.

Wu’s work in music-making is astonishing. Not only does she play for Redwood High School’s band, but other organizations including California All-State Ensemble, County Honor Band (TKMEA), occasionally the King’s Symphony in Kingsburg, Sequoia Youth Symphony, and sometimes she also gets to work with different COS groups. 

Wu was remarkably the only student in Tulare County to enter the selective event known as the California All-State Ensemble which was held in Sacramento this year. She was set in the Symphonic Band out of 4 other groups.

Her music journey started at a very young age, her mom signed her up for piano at the age of 4. Then by 5th grade, her mom asked her to join either orchestra or band at Oak Grove Elementary. “So I chose percussion because we started on bells, and I thought ‘Well bells look easy because it’s just like piano!’” she laughs.

Over quarantine, she almost decided to quit band. However, when they came back in person towards the end of her 7th-grade year at Ridgeview Middle School, she realized how much fun she had playing instruments and with others.

“Joey [the percussion instructor/mentor] invited a couple of us from Ridgeview to do winter [percussion] at Redwood, and that was a ton of fun! And so, I did it in high school,” she says.

Now in high school, she performs as the section leader for the front ensemble during their marching and winter percussion seasons. 

“I have a lot of fun doing it [music] and I think part of it is ‘cause the feeling that you get when you’re actually performing. Practicing is fine, but it’s not really why you do music… I think one of the best parts about music is when you finally get in front of an audience, and the adrenaline kicks in, and your mind focuses so much on that one thing. It’s like a meditative state!”

Anne Wu

She assists in being the communication person between their advisor Joey Hernandez and the rest of the section along with passing general information such as music and times or dates for upcoming events, and focusing on more logistical stuff when it comes to the front ensemble. 

The All-State trip Wu got to partake in was as fun as educational. She met many other dynamic musicians that she described as “crazy talented” and “surrounded their life with music.” 

“I talked to this one girl who said that her one goal is to do 365 days of practicing!”

She arrived in Sacramento on February 1 of this year and had a chance to meet the conductors and directors to figure out how the event would pan out. They practiced the music as an ensemble for around 4 to 5 hours each.

There were people there who were part of big symphony groups that traveled the world to perform. “It’s crazy how good they are in general with technique and stuff and what they can play,” Wu says.

She spoke with other players from Handford West and they found it funny that they’re all from a county that’s quite small and attending an event this big, alongside larger cities from south and north, from a county that’s often overlooked. 

Grade 9-12 attended the event along with middle school students competing in their own categories. 

Getting into All-State along with TKMEA, there was quite the audition process to join the groups. For All-State, Wu will receive the audition materials around early June. She then spends the whole summer working on the etudes for a handful of instruments, preparing them to record for commentators to listen, whereas TKMEA goes through an in-person audition.

The other less strict groups such as King’s Symphony and Sequoia Youth Symphony, it’s more of a community-based group. There wasn’t much of an audition process for her to get into these events.

With music being almost every aspect of Wu’s life, it throws up the question; Does she want to continue or pursue music outside of high school? 

Music is something that takes up the majority of Wu’s schedule and she wants to keep music a part of her life, yet she doesn’t see it as her main career. “I don’t want to major in music,” Wu says, “but I can’t imagine my life without it.”

Not only does she contribute to the music aspects of Redwood, but she also participates in mock trials on the Blue Team as a pre-trial attorney.

She joined the law class because of her interest in history and “following the rules” she laughs. 

Wu decided to join mock trial because of her freshman year with the law academy. She enjoyed the class so she wanted to expand upon her interest.

Mock trial starts around September and they have practices twice a week, which span out through the entire year. Throughout this period, they have scrimmages and rounds of competitions in February. Wu takes part in these competitions within Tulare County.

She was also able to attend the scrimmages, based on invite-only, taking place at Carmel High School over in Monterey.

Wu describes the event as not a competition, but one where she and the mock trial team can receive feedback to improve upon for future experiences. The same can go for any other future endeavors regarding anything from law and music.

She is one of the extraordinary students here at Redwood who help bring our school together and assist in making a stance in her groups.

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