Colin Diener, ’13, has a peculiar talent. He plays the ocarina. This 12,000-year-old wind instrument, typically made out of wood, clay, or most commonly ceramic, was heavily popularized in the video game series Zelda. Diener first heard about the ocarina, at the age of 14, while playing that game. The instrument caught his attention, so he took the time to research it and eventually bought one for himself. Since then Diener has bought several more. According to Diener, “Ocarinas are like pistachios. You can never have just one.” In fact, Diener’s friend, David Ramus, owns over 200 ocarinas.

Diener’s instrumental talents don’t stop at this; he plays piano, guitar, bass, cello, and is currently learning the flute. His inspiration for his overall love for instruments came from his musical family, he said. Everyone except for his mom plays an instrument. His uncle even plays the piano professionally. When asked what his thoughts were on implementing the ocarina into the school band he said, “It can be done.” He says the catch is you need a lot of players for the sound to come through in a full band. With Diener’s musical talents and his collection of like-minded friends, we can be optimistic about hearing more of the ocarina.