One last-minute decision in 4th grade determined the trajectory of my future. I began my musical journey like most of the students at my elementary school; choosing an instrument to play in the 4th-grade orchestra program. Almost everyone in my class picked the violin, including my best friend, who had been playing the violin since he was three. Without much thought, I asserted I also wanted to play the violin. I was confident about my decision until my dad brought my attention to the double bass. I thought it far-fetched to suggest such a giant instrument to a tiny elementary schooler, but after much discussion, I reluctantly agreed with my dad and switched to double bass an hour before my choice was due. That single, rushed decision was possibly the most vital decision of my life. I never looked back on my decision. After just one orchestra rehearsal, I fell in love with the double bass. I practiced for hours and within half a year, I was already playing in the school's most advanced 6th-grade orchestra. Looking back on those days, I know that my musical journey had barely just begun. As I graduated elementary school, I thought I had accomplished everything: a music award, performing in the 6th-grade orchestra, playing at the school talent show, and exploring basic classical and movie music. Little did I know that by the end of high school, my musical feats would grow in ways I never thought possible: recipient of the South Lakes High School orchestra department award, 2nd-chair bassist in the All-Virginia Orchestra, American Youth Philharmonic Orchestra (two seasons), and Northern Virginia Senior Regional Orchestra (two seasons), 1st-chair bassist in the South Lakes Chamber Orchestra, McLean Symphony Orchestra, and Reston Community Orchestra, composer of a full piece for string orchestra, and accepted to the music performance and engineering dual degree programs at Northwestern University, Vanderbilt University, and University of Rochester/Eastman School of Music. I have also expanded my musical interests well beyond pure classical music; in addition to classical music, I have regularly practiced and performed jazz, rock, funk, metal, bossa nova, flamenco, and country music on both double bass and bass guitar in various settings. I also started two bands in high school - a rock band titled "Out of Order" and a jazz trio titled "The Original Jazz Trio". Across both bands, I have performed at parties, school events, charity events, restaurants, private business functions, political events, and hotels. I even received a congressional award from Virginia Delegate Gerald Connolly for The Original Jazz Trio's community work. Through my experiences in these bands, I have written several original songs and even more arrangements. This past summer, I experienced my new favorite musical opportunity and performance. In July, I performed for world leaders at the Library of Congress in the NATO Symphony Orchestra to conclude the 75th Anniversary of NATO Summit. Being a Polish citizen, I represented Poland in this orchestra and performed alongside professional musicians from the American Pops Orchestra and college students and graduates representing other NATO countries. This unique, remarkable, and unifying musical experience marked the "next stage" as I enter college to study my two greatest passions: music and engineering. My ultimate dream beyond college is to continue a musical performance career. I hope to continue my ventures throughout the multitude of diverse musical genres and the intersections between them. I hope to explore music on a deeper level in this way by performing in a band, writing as much music as I can fathom, and sharing my music with the world.

One last-minute decision in 4th grade determined the trajectory of my future. I began my musical journey like most of the students at my elementary school; choosing an instrument to play in the 4th-grade orchestra program. Almost everyone in my class picked the violin, including my best friend, who had been playing the violin since he was three. Without much thought, I asserted I also wanted to play the violin. I was confident about my decision until my dad brought my attention to the double bass. I thought it far-fetched to suggest such a giant instrument to a tiny elementary schooler, but after much discussion, I reluctantly agreed with my dad and switched to double bass an hour before my choice was due. That single, rushed decision was possibly the most vital decision of my life. I never looked back on my decision. After just one orchestra rehearsal, I fell in love with the double bass. I practiced for hours and within half a year, I was already playing in the school's most advanced 6th-grade orchestra. Looking back on those days, I know that my musical journey had barely just begun. As I graduated elementary school, I thought I had accomplished everything: a music award, performing in the 6th-grade orchestra, playing at the school talent show, and exploring basic classical and movie music. Little did I know that by the end of high school, my musical feats would grow in ways I never thought possible: recipient of the South Lakes High School orchestra department award, 2nd-chair bassist in the All-Virginia Orchestra, American Youth Philharmonic Orchestra (two seasons), and Northern Virginia Senior Regional Orchestra (two seasons), 1st-chair bassist in the South Lakes Chamber Orchestra, McLean Symphony Orchestra, and Reston Community Orchestra, composer of a full piece for string orchestra, and accepted to the music performance and engineering dual degree programs at Northwestern University, Vanderbilt University, and University of Rochester/Eastman School of Music. I have also expanded my musical interests well beyond pure classical music; in addition to classical music, I have regularly practiced and performed jazz, rock, funk, metal, bossa nova, flamenco, and country music on both double bass and bass guitar in various settings. I also started two bands in high school - a rock band titled "Out of Order" and a jazz trio titled "The Original Jazz Trio". Across both bands, I have performed at parties, school events, charity events, restaurants, private business functions, political events, and hotels. I even received a congressional award from Virginia Delegate Gerald Connolly for The Original Jazz Trio's community work. Through my experiences in these bands, I have written several original songs and even more arrangements. This past summer, I experienced my new favorite musical opportunity and performance. In July, I performed for world leaders at the Library of Congress in the NATO Symphony Orchestra to conclude the 75th Anniversary of NATO Summit. Being a Polish citizen, I represented Poland in this orchestra and performed alongside professional musicians from the American Pops Orchestra and college students and graduates representing other NATO countries. This unique, remarkable, and unifying musical experience marked the "next stage" as I enter college to study my two greatest passions: music and engineering. My ultimate dream beyond college is to continue a musical performance career. I hope to continue my ventures throughout the multitude of diverse musical genres and the intersections between them. I hope to explore music on a deeper level in this way by performing in a band, writing as much music as I can fathom, and sharing my music with the world.

I began on classical double bass in 4th grade and have significantly broadened my musical horizons since then; I now regularly compose, practice, and perform classical, jazz, rock/funk/metal, and bossa nova music in various groups, playing double bass, bass guitar, and handbells. Regarding classical music, I have held high positions in the All-Virginia Orchestra (2nd chair in 2023, 3rd chair in 2024), Northern Virginia Regional Orchestra (2nd chair in 2023, 2nd chair in 2024), American Youth Philharmonic Orchestra (co-principal chair in 2022-2023 season, co-principal in 2023-2024 season), McLean Symphony Orchestra (since 2019), Reston Community Orchestra (since 2019), South Lakes High School Orchestra (1st chair in highest possible orchestra all four years of high school), and South Lakes “Spirit of Reston” Marching Band (the lone bass guitarist). I was also hired to perform as the soloist at a wedding ceremony and reception; my work was well received and well paid. I have been accepted to the classical double bass studios at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music, University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music, and Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music (with a full tuition merit-based scholarship). This summer, I will embark on several new musical ventures. I recently finished a week-long program at the 2024 George Mason University Jazz Camp, where I was selected for the camp’s highest-level jazz combos, big bands, and classes. In July, I will perform at the Library of Congress as a member of the NATO Symphony Orchestra (celebrating NATO’s 75th anniversary), representing Poland at this event (I am a dual citizen of the United States and Poland, visit Poland almost every summer and am fluent in Polish). Later in July, I will perform in the pit orchestra for Canto Virginia’s fully-staged production of Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro”. My musical interests extend far beyond classical performance. Since my sophomore year, I have been the bassist for the South Lakes “Jazz Hawks” Jazz Band. In 10th grade, I formed a jazz band titled “The Original Jazz Trio” and a rock band titled “Out of Order”. With The Original Jazz Trio, I have performed both for pay and for charity at public concerts, political functions, private business functions, hotels, restaurants, school events, and parties; one of our most notable performances was at the National Association of Secondary School Principals’ 2023 Celebration Gala at the Fairmont Hotel in Washington, D.C. Because of The Original Jazz Trio, I have received a congressional award from U.S. Congressman Gerald Connolly. Concurrently, I have performed regularly with Out of Order at school events, parties, and restaurants. In both bands, I have written and arranged a series of pieces spanning numerous genres. I have also become fascinated with classical composition; I wrote a string orchestra piece titled “The Tragedy of Macbeth”, based on the Shakespearean play. At the time, I had recently read Macbeth, and I decided to compose this piece for an English project; I presented it in class and highlighted key moments of the story that I depicted musically through manipulation of dissonance, tone, and dynamics. This composition has been performed live twice: once by the Reston Community Orchestra and once by the South Lakes High School Chamber Orchestra. Additionally, “The Tragedy of Macbeth” was showcased at the 2023 Virginia Music Educator’s Association Composition Festival. My goal is to record and/or upload my classical, jazz, and rock compositions to music platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music. At MIT, I will start several groups/bands encompassing a wide range of musical genres and continue expanding my musical capabilities in double bass performance, bass guitar performance, and musical composition.

I am Colin Surabian, and I recently graduated from South Lakes High School as an IB Diploma candidate with a GPA of 4.58. I was the Science National Honor Society president and an active member of the National Honor Society, National English Honor Society, Math Honor Society, French Honor Society, Tri-M Music Honor Society, and Speech and Debate Team. Culminating my senior year, I received two prestigious school department awards: the South Lakes Science Department Award and the South Lakes Orchestra Department Award. Though I have accumulated a multitude of interests throughout high school, these awards mark my two greatest passions: science and music. Starting in 10th grade, inspired by recent World Bank initiatives to incorporate insect farming into agriculture, I engaged in complex research examining the impact of crop-based substrates on black soldier fly larvae growth. My research revealed a series of potential issues limiting larvae growth, so I continued my research in 12th grade. In my continuation study, I solved the issues and increased growth more than 30-fold in corn residue substrate. My research, which has major implications in food security, economic and environmental sustainability, and waste management, was implemented by the World Bank in black soldier fly pilot programs in Malawi, Zimbabwe, and South Sudan. I received a series of awards and honors for my research, including being a finalist at the 2022 Regeneron Science and Engineering Fair, being invited to and speaking at Sigma Xi’s 2022 International Forum on Research Excellence, and being nominated for and awarded membership in Sigma Xi, The Science Research Honor Society. Aside from my endeavors in science, I have become a dedicated musician across a wide range of musical genres. I began and continue to thrive as a classical double bassist; I have performed in numerous orchestras, including the All-Virginia Orchestra and American Youth Philharmonic Orchestra, and will represent Poland in the 75th Anniversary of NATO Symphony Orchestra in July 2024, performing at the Library of Congress. Concurrently, I fell in love with other genres of music and formed a jazz band titled “The Original Jazz Trio” and a rock band titled “Out of Order”. With The Original Jazz Trio, I have performed both for pay and for charity at public concerts, political functions, private business functions, hotels, restaurants, school events, and parties. I have performed regularly with Out of Order at school events, parties, and restaurants. In both The Original Jazz Trio and Out of Order, I have written and arranged a series of pieces spanning jazz, rock, metal, funk, and flamenco. Through my engagement in diverse genres of music, I have discovered their immense similarities and bridged gaps; I arranged Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train” and Muse’s “Hysteria” for jazz and performed them in my jazz trio. I accredit much of my ever-growing obsession with music to science, as during my 400+ hours of scientific research, I was almost always exploring the infinite catalogs of Spotify. It is during my research that I discovered and deep-dove into some of my favorite bands, such as Avenged Sevenfold (seeing A7X live in April was a dream come true), Metallica, Black Sabbath, Red Hot Chili Peppers, King Crimson, System of a Down, Disturbed, Iron Maiden, and Korn. My love for rock and metal in particular has only continued to grow; every chance I get, I find myself opening Spotify to blast my heavy metal playlist. I cannot go a single workout without “Nightmare”, “Sad But True”, and “Down with the Sickness” blasting in my ears. Every morning, I awake to Serj Tankian yelling “WAKE UP” as “Chop Suey” plays through my alarm. As I begin my first year at MIT, many are calling me crazy for attempting a dual degree in chemical engineering and music. I know this path will be challenging, and I do not know what career awaits me in the future with these two subjects. All I know is that I cannot live a good life unless it has both science and music.