Plum student selected to play with Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra

A Plum High School orchestra student will have the chance to perform for the whole city.

Justin Muretisch, a senior at Plum, has been selected with others from around the area to participate in the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s Side-by-Side mentoring program.

“I always knew I wanted to play, (and) if I got good enough, that it could be something I do on the side,” Muretisch said. “My parents always said, ‘If you get good enough, then you can play with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.’ But seeing them in action at various concerts, just getting to play with them this year is a dream come true.”

The program allows for him and others to work, as it is titled, side by side with the professionals. That includes personal training and rehearsals, all leading up to a concert April 11 at Heinz Hall.

Muretisch was selected after an application process that required him to write an essay and submit a letter of recommendation from his teacher. It was the second year in a row that he applied. He was selected alongside Plum High School band member A.J. Kim, who plays the flute.

“It’s more than you would get out of school,” Muretisch said. “And it’s a lot more learning from people that have been on your instrument and have been playing for a lot longer. So you can take what you learn from the symphony and apply it to your playing at school or any other groups you’re a part of.”

He previously performed at Heinz Hall as part of a select Pennsylvania Music Educators Association orchestra.

He also has participated in the Opus 2 Orchestra, a community youth ensemble, for five years.

Muretisch has seen his role grow at Opus 2 Orchestra over the past five years. He joined the orchestra while shopping for a new violin at a local music shop, where he met the recruiter for Opus 2 and signed on.

“It’s for middle school, high school kids and adults if you just want to play your music,” Muretisch said. “Whenever I was in seventh grade, I was just playing my music, playing through things, and it was clear that I needed more because I wasn’t excelling enough.”

The five years of Opus 2 have equaled roughly half of Muretisch’s time playing the violin. He has been playing since third grade and has participated in the PMEA district orchestra six times and the regional orchestra once.

He utilized his time with Opus 2 to give him even more opportunities, the biggest of which was making connections. In fact, it was through the ensemble that he heard about Side-by-Side — and it was through his talents playing with the group that he was selected for the mentoring program.

He since has become the connection guy at Opus 2, being a de facto recruiter for the organization.

“All throughout that time, I’ve been trying to make friends with people throughout the district who are a part of it,” Muretisch said. “And I knew that Plum has some good musicians, so what if I bring in some of the people that my teachers think would be a good fit for this? So my eighth-grade year, I started recruiting people.”

Muretisch will attend the Honors College at Slippery Rock University with the goal of becoming a teacher. He is majoring in middle level education/English language arts and plans to try out for the school’s symphony orchestra while there.

The Side-by-Side program’s concert will feature works by Nancy Galbraith, Gustav Mahler and Gerónimo Giménez. It will be led by Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra assistant conductor Moon Doh. For more information, visit https://pittsburghsymphony.org/pso_home/web/community-landing/learning-programs/student-side-by-side-program.