Abigail Sigafoose ‘26 was five years old when she first played Twinkle Twinkle on the Hancher stage. She was six when she did it again– seven for the third time– and now, at sixteen, she is about to play Twinkle Twinkle in front of thousands of eager audience members like she has done for ten years in a row.

Every year on the first Sunday of February, Preucil School of Music–where Sigafoose takes violin lessons from Lisa Guttenberg, helps out at group classes for younger kids, and plays in the string orchestra–puts on a concert at Hancher Auditorium. The view is spectacular–hundreds of string, harp, and flute students from age two to twenty, all playing everything from Shostakovich’s Romance to Twinkle Twinkle on one of Southeast Iowa’s largest stages.

“It just fills my heart with this joy of knowing [that] everyone’s playing the same thing. I’m playing with little kids; I was a little kid once, and now look at me,” Sigafoose said about the experience. “It’s a very full circle moment.”

Sigafoose has been selected for the Iowa All-State Orchestra every year since she was a freshman. This year, she was chosen for the High School Honors Performance series at Carnegie Hall. From February 6 to 10, she will travel to New York to play in a string orchestra with other young musicians. 

But her success doesn’t come without times when she can’t play as well. Off days are something that a lot of non-musicians would be surprised to learn, Sigafoose thinks. She’s playing in Carnegie Hall this year–but some days she can’t even play a scale.

“My mom is a professional organist. She’s been playing the piano for over 40 years, the organ for 30, and [some days] she can’t play,” she said. “You try and it just doesn’t work, and then you come back the next day, and I think that’s what really counts. Just because you don’t practice one day, you come back the next day. You show up and you try again and you don’t give up.”

That’s what it means to be a musician to Sigafoose. It’s not about the awards, or about the box you can check off on your college applications. It’s about coming back, day after day, to share music with others. 

“Just because you love something doesn’t mean you always want to deal with it. I love playing the violin, [but] that doesn’t mean I want to practice [everyday]. It’s taught me a lot of determination,” she said.

Outside of her work with the violin, Sigafoose continues to be musical. She is in City High’s varsity show choir, 4th Ave, and plays piano. Violin takes up much of Sigafoose’s life, but that doesn’t mean that she’s always the one playing. Since 2023, she has done ‘work study’ at Preucil on Friday evenings–a program where older music students will help out younger students during group classes.

“I help the teacher of the group class–I tune violins; sometimes I play a bit of piano if they don’t have an accompanist that day; I’ll set up chairs,” she said. “You just want everything to go as smoothly as possible because kids are chaotic enough…playing the violin as a kid can be really important, even if you don’t become a professional musician, because it teaches you a lot of skills.”

Growing up in a highly musical family–a professional organist mother and a bluegrass fanatic father–Sigafoose has been influenced by a broad mishmash of music genres.

“My mom has done a lot of [organ performance] throughout the country…on my dad’s side, it’s also very musical, but in a different sense. My grandpa performs in a couple of bluegrass and country bands, and my dad used to [perform as well].” she said. “I’ve always seen my taste in music as kind of a mash up between classical and hillbilly country.”

A free accompanist for performances is great, but sometimes having a relative who is a professional musician can be stressful.

“Sometimes it can feel like too many cooks in a kitchen. Sometimes it feels a lot having like a professional musician right there,” Sigafoose said. “I’m like, ‘I know I’m not a professional, but I’m trying my best.’”

For Sigafoose, her love for the violin comes from sharing music with others and performing.

“I’ve met a lot of people, made a lot of connections and friends through it. I feel like it’s helped me grow as a person, because it’s been such a consistent thing,” she said. “You grow up, you change schools, you move, but violin’s been consistent and it’s just a really important part of my life that brings me a lot of joy.”