| Daimon Squier was born January 24, 1999, and began playing violin at Rose L. Hardy Middle School at the age of eleven. Although he had originally wanted to play guitar, a clerical error put a violin in his hands. Initially, he was not interested in learning the instrument, and progress was slow--it was months before he had moved on from playing only open strings. However, that summer he began to take private lessons, which accelerated his ability to perform basic techniques. Eventually, Daimon accumulated a simple comprehension of the violin that allowed him to meet the minimum requirements for attendance at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts. Only an impulse led him to choose this school over the district's more academically focused high schools. Through his experiences at Ellington and through his devoted instructor Heather Haughn, Daimon has realized the technical and emotional depth of the violin, which he had never before imagined. By his junior year he had progressed from "Suzuki book 3" to sections of Mozart's 3rd violin concerto and Bach's 3rd Partita. |
