‘Don’t talk to my section’ is a phrase that anyone on campus can recognize. Baby blue sweatshirts with this catchphrase on the back and an eclectic recreation of his tattoo are a normal fashion statement for anyone in the Legacy’s saxophone section. Zaq Hale is the saxophone section leader, yet his specialty is the flute. This first band, third chair All State Band member is most known for his vast musical knowledge and quick wit, but also for his past experiences and future plans.
“I started sixth grade band at Benton because my brother played clarinet and I thought that band was cool, then I moved to Arizona about halfway through sixth grade and band out there just was not fun. It was awful. There were about six people in the band, so eventually I just quit.” Said Hale
Hale returned to Bryant at the beginning of the seventh grade, and he rejoined the Bethel Middle school band in the eighth grade.
“I remember watching Bethel’s Christmas concert and saw how cool it was and how much fun they were having and I just missed it, so I joined band in eighth grade and basically restarted the whole thing. I did not know a thing about flute anymore, so I grew from there.”
Over the years, Zaq attended band camps and received lessons, which he believes improved his abilities drastically. The senior plans on attending Henderson State University and majoring in Music Education in order to be able to direct his own band in the future.
“About 9th or 10th grade year I figured out that I wanted to do music as a career. This is what I want to do. I have so much fun doing it, and I enjoy the people I am around,” Hale said.
Hale attributes a lot of his success to his mentors that have encouraged him, pushed him and believed in him.
“Mrs. Gordey, Mr. Wright, Mr. Matthews have all been mentors in my life, but Mrs. Gordey is definitely at the top of that list,” Hale said. “She got me a flute, lessons, got me to band camp which really improved my musical career.”