Ali Raye Hernandez, 13, is an accomplished violinist. She is in the 8th grade, lives in Temecula and is part of Springs’ Venture Online Academy. She hopes to attend New York’s prestigious Juilliard School and become a professional violinist.
Ali Raye began playing violin at age 6. Her grandfather, Salvatore Venittelli, plays the viola professionally, and she “begged” him to teach her. Salvatore was the principal violist for the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. Today, she practices three hours a day, including an hour-long lesson with him. Ali Raye and her family chose Venture so that she’d have time to practice violin. The program has worked well for her. She’s found the coursework both fun and challenging, and has enjoyed working with her teacher, Emily Parzick. She added, “I also love having more freedom and my education more personalized to my needs.”
Her other interests include reading, writing, singing, going to musicals and doing crafts such as sewing and knitting. She lives in a house with 10 other people, including her parents, aunt and uncle, and five of their children and her grandfather. She came to Temecula from Black Mountain, North Carolina.
Ali Raye said that the violin is a difficult instrument to play. She is playing professional level concertos and sonatas, such as Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E Minor. She said, “The difficulty is there in the beginning and it really never goes away. But, that is a big part of what makes the instrument so rewarding to play.”
She continued, “My passion for it, my ability to move people emotionally when I play and the sense of accomplishment I feel through learning difficult pieces are some of the reasons I stay motivated to continue playing and keep my dreams alive.”
