Schools

Take Note of This PAHS Musical Triple Talent

Some musicians play instruments, some sing, still others compose music. Then there's Phoenixville Area High School Senior Joelle Doriani.

Editor's Note: This article was originally published in the Phoenixville Area High School Purple Press. It is one in a series of profiles of PAHS Class of 2013 Students posted on Patch by special arrangement with PAHS and the Purple Press student newspaper.

By James Jackson

She’s not the most outspoken girl, but one day you might see her on a big stage with her piano and guitar, and you’ll realize that she has quite a voice.

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Joelle comes from a very well-rounded family. She has a brother, Drew, who also is a senior and goes to Phoenixville, as well as a sister named Kara who is currently deciding between two colleges to attend for Graduate School: University of Penn and Bryn Mawr College. Joelle also has a pet guinea pig.           

After school Joelle keeps herself busy with her favorite hobby, music. Joelle not only sings, but plays both piano and guitar, and also composes. She takes singing and piano lessons and has been playing piano for nine years. This past summer she learned how to play the acoustic guitar.

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Joelle likes to play all kinds of music. She composes and performs in the genres of jazz, folk, R&B, and soft rock (Beatles style). Of all the different types of music she plays, she prefers acoustic folk over the rest. “I can write more complicated works with folk,” stated Joelle. “I like to see what my voice can do.”

Joelle’s inspiration for her music comes mainly from her favorite bands. Every time she writes a song she tries to imitate her favorite bands, for example, Regina Spector or the Fleet Foxes. Joelle is able to make her own versions of these songs because of her high singing range. “If I want to make a song robust, I sing soprano,” expressed Joelle.

Although Joelle is excited to pursue her dream of music, she will miss a lot of students and teachers here at PAHS. The three teachers she will miss the most are Dr. Carp, who was her choir director and helped her with her singing, Philosophy teacher Ms. Speckhals, and English teacher Mr. Hoffman. Joelle said Mr. Hoffman is hilarious and really good at teaching English. Joelle has really high regards for Ms. Speckhals. “I’ve had her for two years,” said Joelle. “She’s an awesome person.”

Joelle’s amazing talents are nurtured by the people in school who inspired her. Mr. Hoffman helped her work harder, and she knows that working hard will be a very important strength to have in college. Also, her friends in choir have inspired her to work harder on her music. After high school Joelle is going to attend Eastern University to major in music. Joelle wants to compose on the side and try to get a job working at a church or teaching piano lessons.

Joelle has enjoyed her time here at PAHS and will miss it dearly, but is also very much excited with what the future holds. The reason that Joelle has such a bright future is her hard-working mentality; she advises the underclassmen at Phoenixville to do as she did and work hard. “Work hard because it is really rewarding to do well in school and it makes you feel like you can do anything when you actually apply yourself instead of slacking, which doesn’t get you anywhere,” explained Joelle.

Remember the name Joelle Doriani, because one day you will see her doing something very special in the world.


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