Zoe Wejko: Not your Average Girl

Band t-shirts, skinny jeans, and constant ear buds in her ears: that’s what you would see looking at Weedsport High School Freshamn Zoe Wejko. But what people may not know is that she is one of the most talented musicians in Weedsport High School.

To Zoe, when picking the saxophone there was no other doubt in her mind. That was the instrument she wanted.

“The day I chose my instrument, I was with my parents, and they just looked at each other and then looked at me and said ‘What about the saxophone!’ And my eyes just lit up,” Wejko said. “I love playing and I plan on continuing,” she said. “I would like to learn other instruments as well but with time.”

Zoe is currently involved in Weedsport High School Band and Concert Choir, as well as in Jazz Band.

“The first lesson I took with Mr. English was horrible. Everyone was doing fine and playing away and I couldn’t even get a noise out,” Wejko laughs. “So of course I went home and was so determined and I finally got it.”

She also started taking private saxophone lessons with Marty Klueber in 7th grade. So you can say saxophone is a huge part of her life and she wants to even learn more.

“He is really cool and I’ve learned a lot from him,“ Zoe said.

Along with those private lessons, she takes high school band lessons with Laura Woodworth.

“She is very talented, especially with her experience and being a Freshman!“ Woodworth says. “Zoe has taken part in several All County festivals and just attended NYSSMA (New York State School Music Association) festival last year,” Woodworth continues.

Including with this, she was also accepted into Crane Youth Music over the summer.

“It’s at (SUNY) Potsdam and I went up there and stayed in the dorms for two weeks, it was so fun!” Wejko said. “We played all day and there were at least two hundred kids there from 12 to 18 years old playing anything from harp to bass to euphonium,” she laughs.

At this camp you could be accepted into different bands throughout the camp.

“One of them was the Symphony with the string instruments,” Wejko said. “The bands that the saxophones could take part in were the Concert Band, Wind Ensemble, and Symphonic Band. And surprisingly I got into Symphonic Band which was really amazing because there were some phenomenal players there,” she finished.

Along with those she also got to be a part of Jazz Band and a Saxophone group.

When asking her about how she felt about being accepted into this prestigious camp, she said “It was great and I’m glad I got to be apart of it. I hope to do it again.”

Finally, when the topic about a music career came up she smiled and said, “I would love to get a career in some kind of music either teaching or maybe I could be a professional saxophonist,” she said. “I, of course, have still so much to learn and I’ll always be learning. That’s the great thing about music.”