Spotlights illuminate the stage in ultramarine and purple hues at the Essentially Ellington Festival, a prestigious jazz festival for high school students. From the audience seats, senior Bahar Sodeifi watches and takes in each performance, listening intently as each new band walks onstage and begins to play. She recalls being inspired by the practice and hard work each group had channeled into their act, playing with a level of musicality she previously thought only professionals could achieve.

Bahar’s first memories of jazz were from the lower school Jazz Band, where she started to learn saxophone, the instrument she would continue to play years later at performances with the upper school Jazz Band. Along with the group’s attention to detail and the thrill of improvisation, Bahar pinpoints the pre-performance sensation as one of her favorite aspects of playing with the band.

“That moment right before you go on stage, you’re really nervous building up to it,” Bahar said. “But then it drops, and you go on and do what you’ve practiced.”

Through years of playing and performing, Bahar has learned how to cooperate effectively in a group setting. She highlights the importance of communication with others in order to achieve a unified effect — in the case of jazz, a cohesive and solid performance.

“When you’re playing in a band, a lot of people think, ‘Oh, you just want to play as loud as possible, because then all our parts will be heard and the song will be good,’” Bahar said. “But that’s not true. You need to blend with the people around you. You talk to your neighbors and you talk to the other people in your section, because if you don’t blend, the song isn’t good, like nails on a chalkboard.”

Bahar’s desire to connect with others also translates to her love for learning new languages, which helps her bridge language barriers in order to form deeper connections with others. Growing up, she learned Farsi from her parents as well as Spanish, later learning English when she started school.

“Farsi is my mother language, and I’ve been to Iran six times,” Bahar said. “I used to go every summer as a kid. The fact that I can speak to people in my culture in their native language that they understand and that relates to them meant a lot to me.”

In middle school, Bahar embarked on learning a fourth language: French. In the future, she desires to learn more languages and use them to continue interacting with others.

“With each language, you get a whole new perspective of the world,” Bahar said. “You get to connect with a whole new group of people and listen to conversations you never thought you’d understand. You get to go places and speak to them. A whole new world opens up.”

French teacher Galina Tchourilova has taught Bahar for three years and currently teachers her in her Literature and Film class. She applauds Bahar for her enthusiasm and curiosity when approaching the language and the culture surrounding it, recalling a cultural portfolio she presented last year in the AP French Language and Culture class.

“She was fascinated by how different Francophone cultures have different attitudes towards French language and French culture and how they change the language as well,” Tchourilova said. “They use different vocabulary. They use slang in completely different ways. She considered language not just linguistically but also anthropologically, how it is related to culture, and it’s fascinating.”

Outside of exploring languages, Bahar carries the same empathy and consideration, which fuel her desire to understand the different sides of people when interacting with them on a day-to-day basis. Close friend senior Summer Adler values Bahar’s ability to detect when there’s a problem or misunderstanding, and how she actively reaches out to help resolve it.

“She’s always willing to talk it out,” Summer said. “She has always texted me and reached out to me and called me and asked, ‘What’s wrong?’ She’s taught me how to not keep a grudge and that I should always hear the other person.”

Senior Sara Glusman first met Bahar in advisory in ninth grade when she was a new student to Harker. She admires Bahar for her authenticity and humbleness that make up who she is rather than just her talents or hobbies.

“She’s a very determined person, and if she’s passionate about something, she’ll do it 110%, but she doesn’t make it her entire personality,” Sara said. “She makes a larger part of her identity who she is as a person, like her thoughts and her humor, and it’s refreshing. Lots of people, you know them as the DECA person or the dance person or the Speech and Debate person, but Bahar is Bahar.”

Whether playing in a band, exploring a language or spending time with friends, Bahar approaches what she encounters with an open mind. She credits her outlook to a piece of advice she received from her mom and that she now carries as her personal motto.

“If you wait long enough, you’ll find something good in someone, at least one thing,” Bahar said. “There are people I have not vibed with at all and that I disagree with about almost everything, but if I wait and I’m patient with them, I’ll see something good about them that I like. If you give people a chance, they’ll show a good value that you may not expect them to have.”