Get to know the newest members of the Northshore Concert Band family through this series of mini-interviews! Don’t miss seeing and hearing Northshore Concert Band musicians, new and old, perform on November 2, 2025, at 3:00 p.m. during our season-premiere concert at the Pick-Staiger Concert Hall in Evanston, Illinois.

Taki Salameh

Meet our newest member, Taki Salameh. Taki plays the Bassoon and is a student and barista.

Can you tell us a bit about your musical background and how you came to play your instrument? I started as a saxophonist. My band director was very kind in letting me explore any other instruments that were available for use, and one of those instruments happened to be the bassoon. When I auditioned for the Merit School of Music’s Wind Symphony, I played for the conductor. I probably sounded awful, but he said if I agreed to start private lessons, I could be in the orchestra. I fell in love with orchestral repertoire so much that eventually I switched entirely from saxophone to bassoon!

What do you enjoy most about playing? The social aspect of it. Nothing feels like a more genuine way of connecting with people than through performing music together. When you play in an ensemble, you experience being part of the creation of something bigger than yourself; you have the privilege of getting to listen around you and communicate in a way that feels so much more real than any spoken language. I love the fact that no matter how advanced technology gets, one person can never perform an entire symphony live; it goes to show how inherent human connection is in the art form.

Who or what has been the biggest influence on your musical journey so far? I have had so many important mentors in my life. Bryan Polacek, my first private lesson teacher, taught me how to listen to music and be a musician. I learned from him to always question my reactions to a work of music or a particular piece and try to understand why I think what I think.

Another big influence for me — though not a person — is my love of thinking about music and how it connects to different aspects of society. I’m always fascinated by the way audiences often see what musicians do as almost otherworldly, when in reality it’s built on things people do every day. The big difference, of course, is the time and dedication it takes to really master the instrument and the notation.

Do you have a favorite musical memory? One musical memory that really stands out for me was in September 2021, when I had my first full orchestra rehearsal since COVID with the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra (CYSO). Because CYSO doesn’t reveal seating assignments until just 15 minutes before the first rehearsal, I had spent countless hours preparing the full parts for both Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 and Barber’s Second Essay. As a lifelong Tchaikovsky fanatic, I’d listened to the symphony at least a hundred times leading up to the audition, so I was absolutely ecstatic when I found out I’d been placed as principal for Tchaikovsky’s Fourth.

Does anyone in your family play music? Music runs in my family — my sister teaches general music and plays both percussion and piano, my grandmother was a singer in Greece, and my uncle and brother are both drummers. I actually started out on percussion myself, but it didn’t take long to realize that hitting things with sticks just wasn’t my calling.

Do you have any interests or hobbies outside of music that influence your playing? I love exploring new places on my own. I learned quickly that if you wait on other people’s schedules, you don’t end up doing much living. Whether it was while spending a semester in Prague or when I lived in Los Angeles, I enjoyed exploring to see what a city has to offer. Some of my more memorable adventures have included seeing a film at a tiny, offbeat theater, taking a risky overnight bus to Berkeley just to hear the Vienna Philharmonic (and heading straight into rehearsal on zero sleep), or spontaneously hiking Griffith Park on a whim. All those experiences — and the countless hours spent listening to music while bouncing between buses and trains — helped me approach music in new ways and left a lasting impact on how I play.

What is on your Spotify playlist or in your music library? A lot of classical music, I am quite obsessive with how much I listen to it (ask me about the craziest thing I have done to see a live concert if you dare). I also have been loving ABBA, Tom Waits, The National, and Adele.

How did you feel when you found out you'd been invited to join the Northshore Concert Band? Grateful and excited! Returning to the Chicago area, I felt both excited and anxious. I knew people here, but after so much time away, I wasn’t sure how I’d find a musical community. Practicing alone for months, without ever seeing the fruits of your labor, can be draining — as we all felt during COVID — so it’s been incredibly meaningful to finally have a consistent reminder that all the hard work truly matters.

List three words to describe the Northshore Concert Band. Welcoming, dedicated, joyful

Please add anything else that you would like our audience to know. I have a pet conure named Ray. He drives me insane, and I could not love him more. Both parts of that sentence are equally true!