Yantek moves to the beat of her own baton. As St. Edward High School’s first female drum major, she conducts the 60-member marching band through intricate competition routines. “Coming out of eighth grade, I was a pretty shy person,” says the 17-year-old. But her mother encouraged her to join the St. Ed’s band, which includes girls from St. Joseph Academy and Magnificat High School. “I just really fit in there.”
Early reeder: A member of St. Joe’s jazz band, concert band and orchestra, Yantek played her first instrument — a clarinet that had originally been her mother’s and briefly used by her sister — in the fourth grade. “I instantly loved it. I loved the fact that I could create music and play with other people in a large group and make something really beautiful,” she says.
Technical Talent: During high school, Yantek has added bass clarinet, baritone sax and string bass to her repertoire. “Music is just very inspiring to me,” she says. “There is always a type of music for every emotion.”
Major inspiration: Yantek doesn’t take her role as St. Ed’s first female drum major lightly. “[The younger girls] can kind of look at me and think, Hey if she can do it I can do it too,” she says. “I am really glad that I can be that person for them.”
Artistic endeavors: A creative type who has always loved to draw, Yantek enjoys her class in graphic design and plans to pursue it as a major in college. She especially likes the challenge of finding a solution for a client while making the design her own. And if it doesn’t work out? “There is always an undo button.”
Maker taker: Yantek used the school’s makerspace, which is outfitted with 3-D printers, laser cutters and design software, to create a deck of cards for her grandfather’s 80th birthday. “You need to not only be good with math and science, but you also need to be really creative in the way you think.”
#Goals: While Yantek aspires to teach art or graphic design, she hopes to someday backpack across Europe. “I think it will be something really cool to do,” she says. But she’s set an even loftier goal for herself. “I have always wanted to go to the moon, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
Private Schools: Annie Yantek Moves To The Beat Of Her Own Drum
As the St. Edward High School's first female drum major, the St. Joseph Academy senior conducts the 60-member marching band.
