A Duluth East senior is hoping her lifelong love of music inspires a new generation of musicians.

Playing the violin has been second nature for Hannah Deng since she was five years old.

“I’ve always been really passionate about spreading the love for music education, especially in these recent years after COVID hit,” Deng said.

In the summer of 2021, Deng pulled some strings and started a regional chapter of Back to Bach, an organization focused on young musicians teaching kids about music.

“Music education is just really important and I wanted to take action,” Deng said.

She and her group present and perform at local schools like Stella Maris Academy, hoping to inspire young kids to take up music.

“Real big commitment to music, Hannah has a really big drive for developing the community,” said Deng’s teacher and Duluth East Orchestra Director James Larson.

Deng’s leadership is something Larson said is vital to keeping a love for music alive.

“Orchestra really is kind of a niche, small community of people, so Duluth as a whole, just since Hannah’s been here, it’s been really cool cause she’s got a vision to help bolster that,” Larson said.

Deng said she hopes to grow the Back to Bach Duluth Program even more over her senior year and hopes that little kids watching feel a calling of their own.

“Little kids will often look up to teenagers because teenagers are really cool when you’re a kid, so what they’re doing, you automatically think, ‘Oh maybe I want to try that,’” Deng said. “Having teenagers show kids the importance of music, I think, it’s more influential.”

Back to Bach also teaches kids about dance, visual arts, and creative writing.

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