Honors Student Winds Up for Boston Symphony Hall Performance

Once a week, College of Charleston undergraduate students, faculty and alumni – as well as students from The Citadel and members of the Charleston community – meet in room 234 of the Cato Center for the Arts to play their French horns, violins, bassoons, percussion, double basses and flutes.

They make up the College of Charleston Orchestra, and they come together to produce the beautiful array of musical pieces and sounds that float through the halls of the Cato Center. That’s when the whimsical music of flutes is heard coming from behind the long, graceful bows of the energetic violinists.

Among the flutists is Maggie Armes ’26, who has been with the CofC Orchestra for the last four years. Armes is an ambitious Honors College chemistry major and music minor. Her extracurricular activities include competing with the equestrian team and fencing club, working as a pharmacy technician at Publix and serving as treasurer of the Alpha Chi Sigma chemistry fraternity. To keep up with everything, she has a very detailed calendar.

“I genuinely enjoy doing all of these things; passion is my motivation,” says Armes, who has received the Arthur and Wanda Haisten Quasi-Endowed Scholarship and the College of Charleston Foundation Annual Scholarships. “I realize I won’t have access to all of these opportunities once I graduate, so I am taking advantage of them now.”

Music at the Heart

Armes might be involved in many activities, but music is where her heart lives. Despite being humble about her abilities – her passion comes through when she plays the flute.

“I was able to play my first year despite a disastrous audition,” says Armes, who has been playing the flute since sixth grade. “Fortunately, my conductor Yuriy Bekker saw my potential, and when I auditioned again my sophomore year, he acknowledged how much progress I had made. Yuriy provides amazing opportunities for musicians to develop their skills and determine whether music is something that they would like to pursue as a career.”

Bekker, conductor of the CofC orchestra and violin instructor, has watched Armes gain confidence while playing with the orchestra.

“I have enjoyed watching Maggie grow as a musician – from a student to a young professional,” says Bekker. “She plays beautifully and has developed a beautiful, big sound.”

Thanks to Bekker and generous donors, Armes’ beautiful, big sound has been heard at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and Carnegie Hall in New York City. In March, she will be heard again at the Boston Symphony Hall.

The first trip Armes made with the orchestra was to the Kennedy Center in spring 2023. Performing at the Kennedy Center was a very big deal for Armes, who was a freshman at the time.

“For the first time I was treated like an adult!” exclaims Armes, describing the center as “regal.” The Kennedy Center’s vast history left Armes marveling at the many events that have taken place there. 

In spring 2025, the College of Charleston Orchestra played Dvořják’s New World Symphony at Carnegie Hall, where it debuted in 1893. For the piece, Armes played as first chair flute. She was in awe of performing in such a prestigious hall, which had rigidly structured procedures. With a laugh, she remembers having to wait two to three hours between dress rehearsals and the performance in a room near the stage.

Well worth the wait, the performance is one of Armes’ favorites – in large part because of Carnegie Hall’s historic significance and amazing acoustics.

“The sound melded together, which complemented the pieces we performed so well. It’s like the auditorium was built for our orchestra,” says Armes. “It was the best we ever sounded. It was a prideful moment.”

Her Final Tour

Now in her final year at the College, Armes will be part of the orchestra for the U.S. 250th celebration at Boston Symphony Hall. 

“What is so special about the College and this program is that there are not many conservatories in the world that are touring,” says Bekker. “The fact that this is a third tour in four years says a lot about our program and our offerings. Some students like Maggie got to perform at all three celebrated concerts halls.”

For Armes’ final tour with the orchestra in March, it will be celebrating iconic American composers:

• Bernstein, Candide Overture
• Bernstein, West Side Story Overture
• Gershwin, Summertime from Porgy and Bess
• Copland, Promise of Living from The Tender Land
• Bernstein, Make Our Garden Grow from Candide

Armes says the experience will be bittersweet: It represents her progression as a musician and the unforgettable time she spent in the orchestra, but also the end of an era.

One thing that will not end, however, is her practicing the flute. The beautiful music she makes – and the joy it brings to her life – cannot be silenced.