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   Filled with artistic ideas and flooding with all sorts of talent, Pembroke Pines Charter High School’s very own band, Florian prepared for their first school-wide performance. From tuning their guitars just right, knowing the beats and lyrics by heart, and making sure the energy that came from them was just the way they wanted, an opportunity to showcase their hard work appeared. January 27th, what would seem like a typical Friday, was the day when Charter students and staff were introduced to Florian.

   When it came down to the formation of this band, the four members: Juniors Liana Samuel, Alexander Shpurik, Nickolas Kim, and Sophomore Christian King all connected through the ambition to share and grow from each other’s creativity. 

  The journey leading up to this event was filled with hard work and determination– endless practice until they were finally ready to express their enthusiasm to a wider audience.

   Love for music might have been common ground, but this bond goes farther back than just forming a band together.

“We’ve known each other for a long time. Nick and I met in first grade, although we never kept in touch, we always had that connection to resume always being good friends,” Liana says. She explained how impressed she was that an old friend of hers could have this talent and knew that it couldn’t be wasted. “Nick and I were just catching up while he was telling me he was coming up with some good stuff. When I saw what he was composing, I just knew I wanted him on my side. With Chris and Alex, I met them in middle school.” 

   Florian’s creation of their own music and covers as a band started almost 2 years ago, but the band members have always had that burning passion for learning the ways of music. Band member Chris recalls the lessons he took for the 7 instruments he learned in total. “I’ve always had a passion for music. It has been my go-to hobby since I started taking lessons when I was 6 years old. Since then, my love for it never stopped.” From Nick’s plastic drum set he received at 3 years old to Liana singing the Barney song when she was just a baby, seeing themselves in each other was a core foundation when forming Florian.  

   A lot of emotions led up to their performance at the River of Grass theater, yet the band members found themselves surrounded by support. Rubber Hearts, who used to hold the school band title, graduated last year and left their legacy to any who had the same passion with music. “Since we are working on our personal stuff right now, there were moments where we called members of Rubber Hearts to help because they had also written their own stuff. They were actually the ones who told us to do the ROG performance,” Liana explained.  Performing in front of the school’s majority brought plenty of nerves, but the support of a graduated band helped tremendously. 

   The pure curiosity and excitement of being surprised with something new made the atmosphere vibrant. After the performance, the band members were filled with inexplicable joy that came from playing familiar songs that made the huge crowds cheer them on, especially Florian’s drummer Alex. 

   “I think the crowd reaction was awesome. I’ve never really been popular at school, so being on a stage at school and getting cheered on was a new and exhilarating experience.” With an album on the way, new covers on YouTube, and upcoming performances, Florian’s music will be echoing inside the Charter campus for a long time to come.