Gabe Sagini

Gabe Sagini, a junior at Red River High School in Grand Forks, has practiced and played his violin since age nine to earn spots in two full North Dakota symphony orchestras.

Sagini’s first instrument was the piano, asking his mother to start him in lessons when he was just five years old. Four years later, she then heard about getting him involved in a group music setting, enrolling him in the orchestra. At first, he wanted to play the viola or the cello. “It felt like the violin was too screechy,” he said, referring to the high-pitched E-string. The high E-string can only be found on the violin.

To Sagini’s later relief, his mother told him he had to play the violin. He said that his mother thought he would not get the same musical exposure on the viola or cello.

In order to fall in love with the initially disliked instrument, he found extra pieces to play and would spend hours upon hours practicing. “I wanted to do everything I could to get familiar with it. I needed to control the tones to make it something I liked listening to.”

Sagini is currently the concertmaster for the RRHS Concert Orchestra and the Northern Valley Youth Orchestra, meaning he sits in the first chair in the first row of violinists during concerts.

According to a press release, he has also earned the Outstanding Performance Awards for solo and duet at the State Solo and Ensemble Festival, was concertmaster for Concordia Honors Orchestra, was chosen as an alternate for a national ensemble and also been selected as concertmaster for the University of North Dakota Honors Orchestra.

In recent years, he has played at several events, including weddings and backyard parties. He even stood up at the Country Club Restaurant in 2022 on Valentine’s Day to play for the patrons for his first public performance outside of school concerts.

Sagini wanted to get involved with more violin competitions, and brought the question to a teacher. She recommended trying out for the Minot Symphony and Fargo-Moorhead Symphony Orchestra. He did just that and got the part in both.

Two of his favorite pieces are “Praeludium and Allegro” by Fritz Kreisler and “Violin Concerto No. 2” by Henryk Wieniawski, both of which are pieces specifically composed to feature only the violin and piano.

Kreisler’s piece was so loved by Sagini that he had a “hyperfixation” with it and performed it 12 times in a single year. “I like having that personal connection with the pianist,” he explained.

The reason he loves Wieniawski’s concerto is the melody keeps coming back, even if it’s far in the background and almost drowned out by everything else. Sagini described it as a “warm melody and it’s very romantic.”

Despite his thorough enjoyment of music and the violin, he does not want to pursue music as a career. He would rather leave it as a hobby and be a dentist or orthodontist after he finishes school. For the dentist position, the minimum time in college is about eight years. The plan is to go to college out of state and get his degree in dentistry, then possibly go into orthodontics. As of yet, he is not sure where he will go.

Sagini will be playing tonight with the Minot Symphony Orchestra at Ann Nicole Nelson Hall in the Old Main building at Minot State University.