Hailey McEwan has many interests—soccer, field hockey, animation. She'd probably never have started singing if her best friend, Crissy, hadn't persuaded her to take singing lessons and join her choir. No one had any idea that Hailey would be such a natural, least of all Hailey herself. A shared love of music—from pop to opera—has been a big part of the girls' friendship, but when the two face off in a competition for a role in a production of The Marriage of Figaro, their closeness turns into a bitter rivalry. Hailey will have to make a tough decision. Is opera as important to her as it is to Crissy? And is landing a role worth losing her best friend?
With High Note I wanted to look at what happens when ambition over rides friendship. Crissy, with her mother's pressure will do anything to succeed. The fact that her talent might fall short of where it needs to be is not a deterrent. She believes in herself, and will do anything to reach her goal, even if it costs her her best friend. I've seen this type of thing happen before and, years later, when the overly ambitious individual looks back, it's not what she got from the act she remembers, but what she lost.
I'm not saying that people don't need to have ambition. Without it, you're lost. But it can't be held above human interaction. To have ambition means you're always striving to get better at whatever it is you love. To keep reaching. Not to put someone else below you to step up on.