By Calista Giannonatti

As a student at Central High, Connor Heinrich balances school, work, and finds time to practice his saxophone. And with the holiday season and Christmas right around the corner, it can be a little stressful.

When Mr. Heinrich isn’t working, or at school, and the weather is nice, he heads to downtown and sets up on a corner and plays his saxophone. “I’ve been playing the tenor sax for about four years and the alto sax for about seven,” he told me when I sat down with him. He claimed that when he was little, he wanted to play the sax because “it looked cool.” Nowadays, he plays the sax for all the opportunities he gets when performing. “A lot of popular songs have a sax solo, so when I’m on the streets I play songs that people will recognize.”

Mr. Heinrich enjoys playing the sax whenever he gets the chance. He recalled one time last year when sophomore students had to give a speech where they showed classmates how to do something. “I showed up to class with my sax, gave a little history and played up until the bell. Everyone seemed to enjoy it,” he recalled. One drawback to playing the sax, though, is that he has to carry it, and it doesn’t look light. When I tried to pick it up myself, it was heavier than I thought it would be. When asked, he told me he didn’t know the exact weight of it.

But does he enjoy it enough to continue to play through college? “I do plan to play my saxophone in college, I don’t think I’ll give it up anytime soon.” Although he is a junior, he has begun to narrow down his choices for college. He is currently looking at attending University of South Dakota, South Dakota State University, or Black Hills State University.

With still a year and a half to go, hopefully he will continue to play his saxophones and gets into the college that he wants.