BYUH student said with the proper mindset, anyone can learn how to play any instrument
Allie Donato, a junior from Milford, New Hampshire, majoring in instrumental performance, said the first musical instrument she learned to play was the flute at the age of 9. She can now play instruments like the piano, which she self-studied, organ, ukulele, trumpet, steel pan, toere, French horn, trumpet, mellophone and melodica. The French horn, she said, is her focus instrument while studying at BYU–Hawaii.
“I asked my mom if I could play the trumpet and she said, ‘We don't have one of those. … Let me call my sister and see if she can send us a flute,’” Donato explained. She remembered how she felt the first time she was able to make a sound on the mouthpiece of the flute. “I feel like that's when I got really excited about wind instruments,” she said.
“It's not as if you can reach a threshold of playing an instrument and then declare, ‘I play this instrument,’” she said. “I think with a proper attitude, you can really learn how to play anything that creates music.”
Her musical journey
Donato said she enjoyed playing the flute in fourth grade. She is also one of the few who stayed in music class to pursue it. “There was probably 10 girls in the room for the first lesson, and then in the next lesson, there was maybe eight,” explained Donato. “By the end of the year, there were only a few left.”
She said she played the flute from fourth grade to eighth grade, which is when she got bored of the repertoire available for the flute. “I asked my teacher if I could try a brass instrument. I took home a French horn when I was about 12 or 13,” she shared.
“I don't profess to have mastery of any instruments,” Donato said. “I really think being able to be a multi-instrumentalist is more of an attitude than anything.”
Co-musician in the street band
Mayuka Konno, a senior from Sapporo, Japan majoring in instrumental performance, said she met Donato at the BYUH Street Band in 2019, where she played the trombone and Donato played the mellophone.
When they first joined the band, Konno said Donato was an inspiration for her because they were the only two girls at first. Currently, there are only three girls in the band, she added.
Konno said being in the street band means they have to walk while playing their assigned instruments. Many members are used to sitting, like in an orchestra, and “not used to moving around.” She said Donato would set the example by trying first so the others could follow her.
She said Donato on one occasion when she was having a difficult time with one of her music classes and was about to give up, Donato encouraged her and said, “Just do it.”
Konno added, “She never gives up when she faces difficult things. I want to follow that way of thinking.”
Future plans and advice
Roche Donato, an alumnus from Qatar, said he supports his spouse fully in her musical journey. Besides helping Allie Donato carry her instruments to the Cannon Activities Center (CAC), he said he bought her a high-end laptop she can use to run required software for class.
He said being married to a musical person is great because he gets to listen to free music instead of listening to music from the internet.
Donato said she sees herself becoming a band director, conducting ensembles and assisting young people with their music, at a school or other institution. Aside from that, she said she also hopes to become a music teacher at some point in her musical journey.
“If [someone wants] to be a musician or a teacher, and [they] really have drive and motivation, I think it's been within reach for [them]. I think it's not as unreasonable as a lot of people make it out to be.”
One thing she said she learned during the pandemic is to not limit herself to one specific musical destination. “I want to keep learning,” she said.
Her advice for others who want to play instruments comes from Ella Fitzgerald, an American singer, who she quoted, “Just don’t give up trying to do what you really want to do.”