My City September 2021

T he crowd quieted as Najee Greenlee took up his clari net and began to play the first notes of the Carmen Fantasy by P. Sarasate. With seemingly little effort, the music began to dance through the auditorium.The audience was rapt as Greenlee, with intricate varia tions, trills and movement, transported them to another world. And after the last note faded, the crowd erupted in applause as Greenlee humbly bowed, then left the stage.The performance marked the end of his education at the prestigious Inter lochen Center for the Arts and the start of something new. “I’m heading to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor to continue my education looking to excel in clarinet performance,” he explains. “I would love to play for my profession or maybe teach and help someone else get the opportunities that I have had. My immediate goal is to get even better.” His musical journey started in fifth grade at Randels Elementary school in Flint. “I was playing basketball at the time and I just wasn’t into it, but my mom wanted me to continue doing something,” he remembers. “At school, we were issued recorders to play during music class. I did well on my test and the band director got MYMUSIC Najee

Greenlee BY PETER HINTERMAN PHOTOGRAPHY BY TIM JAGIELO

in contact with my mom. She urged me toward music and I picked it up.” At first, Greenlee had no idea what instrument he wanted to play. He tried a bevy of different instruments and never made a decision. “The director picked the clarinet for me and I accepted it without a second thought,” he explains. At ten years old, music and the clarinet weren’t a big passion for him. He enjoyed playing fun tunes like video game music and playing with the band, but never had a thought of pursuing it beyond high school until he attended a few semesters at Scarlett Middle School in Ann Arbor. “At that time, it wasn’t really a high priority for me,” he recalls. “At Scarlett, I played the classics and discovered how great it could be.When I got back to Flint, I wanted to experience that again.”He started think ing about music as a career and listened to classical music continually. He enrolled at the Flint School of Performing Arts (FSPA) where his talent was unveiled. At 15 years old, he uncovered his next step. “I saw videos of kids my age playing at Interlochen and I was blown away,” he says. “I applied to the school and had to audition. I remember waiting four hours to play for them.”Greenlee was accepted to attend camp at Interlochen in 2019. p

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