The first thing you would notice about senior Kaitlyn Jarvis is her bright pink hair. Second, her matching personality: bold and bright. But if you stayed long enough to notice, she probably wouldn’t hesitate to tell you about the tattoo of her arm. It’s of the bass clef style used in the Elgar Cello Concerto, her favorite of all songs played on the second-largest bowed string instrument. And that instrument is now one of the biggest parts of her life.

Jarvis started playing the cello six years ago, at the start of sixth grade, and she began private lessons soon after.

“It was weird, but I picked it up pretty fast,” she said. “[I] just went into overdrive, and that’s really all I do anymore is play cello.”

She started out playing percussion, and she now can play some guitar and piano, but the cello is her instrument of choice.

“The cello is the closest instrumental equivalent to the human voice,” Jarvis said. “It has such a wide range, and I really love it because there’s just so much variety that you can get with the cello that you just can’t get with much else.”

Even though Jarvis is no longer in the school orchestra, she takes private lessons with Mark Gibbs, the principal cellist of the Kansas City Symphony. Thanks to him, Jarvis has been to “a bajillion symphony performances,” often times for free when her teacher has extra tickets. For example, while watching Yo Yo Ma’s open rehearsal would usually cost $120 or more, she paid nothing two years ago when she went to see him.

“I about peed my pants to be totally honest,” she said. “It was amazing.”

While she also does recitals, Jarvis is entering competitions in March where she could win cash prizes and the chance to play a piece with a symphony. And although she says her biggest goal is to share her love for music with others, Jarvis also would like to spread recognition for one of the less popular music genres.

“I think classical music in general is very under-appreciated,” Jarvis said. “[My goal is] to improve myself and expose other people to classical music who don’t know what it is, because if we didn’t have classical music, we wouldn’t have any music at all.”

Jarvis plans on double majoring in music performance and pharmacy. Before she transferred to Southwest junior year, Jarvis attended a day-long music clinic where the cello professor from the KU school of music worked with her section. Now she is leaning toward the KU school of music in order to study with him. She’s auditioning for colleges in February, but no matter where she ends up, Jarvis will always continue to play.

“If I didn’t have my music and my cello, I wouldn’t be me.”

More on Kaitlyn Jarvis

• If you could be any animal: “I would be a Malayan tapir because they are wonderful and under-appreciated and unique. To pet a tapir is at the top of my bucket list.”
• Something most people don’t know: “People to not know that I actually do like dogs; I’m not just a crazy cat lady.”
• Number one pet peeve: Dirt under fingernails