Eleanor Lenoe began studying at Hochstein when she was 15. The summer before her sophomore year of high school, a friend who was already involved encouraged her to audition for the Hochstein Youth Symphony Orchestra. Eleanor says:
“As I was walking up to audition, I was extremely nervous and this girl stopped me and she was like, ‘Are you okay? Let me know if you need any help.’ I was like ‘oh my god, that’s just really nice. She doesn’t even know me and we’re both competing to join this orchestra and she’s still super nice.’ Well, that girl’s name was Maria, and she turned into one of my best friends.
“The other person that really became one of my forever friends was my first stand partner, Joyce. On the first day of HYSO, I was super nervous because I knew that I had a stand partner. I actually wasn’t very good at violin and I was placed in the very back of the second violin section. I remember sitting down and Joyce and I exchanged a soft smile like, ‘What are we doing here?’ It was a moment of understanding.
“Maria, Joyce, and I toured Austria together with HYSO, and we see each other every couple months now and just talk about our lives, and spill the tea, and if it wasn’t for Hochstein, I would not have found them, and I’m super grateful.
“That tour really influenced my life in high school a lot. I wasn’t a super confident gal in high school, and so being able to go on tour with a bunch of my friends was a really amazing experience. I got to socialize with my peers in a really nice, fun, and open way. It was honestly a coming of age experience for me, and that was all through Hochstein. It was amazing. And playing in those amazing historic venues inspired in me a curiosity about the history of religion and churches, and I actually began to study that in college, so that also helped me find myself.”
Throughout Eleanor’s time in HYSO, she improved and was eventually promoted to the front of the first violin section. The friends and the bonds Eleanor made during her time at Hochstein will stick with her forever.
A recent graduate of the University of Rochester, Eleanor finished her degrees in History and Japanese last spring. She plans on going to graduate school to get a PhD in history and hopes to one day become a history professor.
Eleanor still makes time for music though. She plays viola in a quartet, uploads covers of pop songs to YouTube, and has been teaching her nieces how to play the violin.