Mrs. Kayla McGuire

Kayla McGuire joined SMART Orchestra for their 10th Season in the fall of 2018. She began playing violin in her hometown Amarillo, TX, in her public school orchestra in the fourth grade. She continued her music education through Amarillo's public school system until her family moved to the Rio Grande Valley. Thanks to her amazing grandparents who paid tuition so she could attend a school out of her district which had an orchestra and thanks to her father's encouragement, she was able to continue playing in her public school while living in the Valley. Kayla then attended Texas State University where she took violin lessons for the first time in her life. At Texas State she was able to explore several different music genres and ensembles including chamber, mariachi, improvisation, and musical theater. Life took Kayla in a direction away from music for about 9 years until she joined the SMART Orchestra. Now, she is excited about making music with other musicians and getting reacquainted with her instrument as an adult learner who is navigating her own music education through trial-and-error and a healthy dose of YouTube tutorials. She believes in the strength of community and the power of music to speak to people of all backgrounds and is ready to help reinforce and invigorate SMART Orchestra's community ties.