WHAT HAS PAST and WHAT'S TO COME
It’s not the spring we wanted. It’s not a picturesque ending to college. It’s definitely not the celebratory start of summer we hope for every year. But this is also not a quarantine blog post or a fantasy of what graduation should have been. This is my life update of what has past, and what’s to come. Regardless of the mixed-up, dystopian YA novel I sometimes feel we’re in, I’m still graduating college and starting the chapter of life without school.
I spent exactly four weeks in Chicago after study abroad ended. It was my first off-campus apartment and I was living with my best friend. The neighborhood was an hour away from campus, but pretty close to the Lincoln Park Zoo, where I had to study goats 3 days a week. Yes you read that correctly. 3 days a week I would stare at goats for my observational science class. It was freezing…but really cute. I saw each of my close friends from Chicago exactly once before I was forced to book a one way ticket home. Nothing can beat those absolutely perfect adventures. Way too much Jeni’s Icecream. Thrift store shopping in Wrigleyville. Dancing at a Taylor Swift themed gay club in Boys Town. An exceptional dinner party. Miraculously seeing the last show at the Magic Lounge.
My Senior Project Video Album
Now, like most students at home, I’ve been balancing zoom class and Tik Tok videos. However I did also completely change the presentation of my senior recital from a live concert, to a recording and video project that would be the final stamp on my college career. This video album is a virtual journey through my changing path as a musical artist. Split into three sections, classical and musical theater, singer/songwriter, and pop producer, I showed appreciation for each iteration of my creative process. The amount of editing and video production was not required, but I was determined to make this video project as dynamic as I had imagined the concert. In some ways, the video album shows who I am more completely than the concert ever could. The aspects of film and music production I had to incorporate to make it work were elements that would have been invisible in a live situation. I’ve loved film and production since high school, and this product allowed me to express that little-known passion. In recording and mixing every track on the album, I showed how much I’ve grown as a producer from last summer, when I released my first single “Looking in Your Eyes”. (A track featured on the video album as well)
RPE
This year’s Recording and Performance Ensemble placed me in a pop/rock band Burning Betsy’s Yacht. I had about three rehearsals with them as a keyboardist. As a zoom class, the focus narrowed to recording, producing and creating a Youtube video single. We agreed “Alright” was the most ready song and it might give people some much needed good vibes these days. Mostly because I don’t like awkward silences, I volunteered to be the group’s manager/organizer/collector of video and song files. Someway or another I ended up mixing the final track. It was the first time my Chicago crowd had heard me mix someone’s song after Germany. The presentation felt like coming home from culinary school and serving my mom her own recipe. They liked it! The confidence I gained from this project help me finish mixing my own project and I’m so grateful they gave me this opportunity, especially as the new band member.
MANIFEST
Since my first introduction to Columbia, I wanted to be on the Manifest Mainstage performing my song. To have actually won that extreme honor as the 2020 Manifest song competition winner was a very big dream come true. To know that I would never perform on that stage because gathering in groups is dangerous, was crushing. I know I’m not the only one who had to swallow that bitter pill. Every showcase was reimagined as a video or livestream. Due to the hardworking manifest team and the student programming board, Columbia students could still be heard online. If you’ve read this far down the page, you should definitely explore the artists here: https://manifest.colum.edu/ This incredible video showcases the senior student artists of this unique and unforgettable Manifest, paired with my song RISE. I hope it inspires you to keep going.
What’s to Come
My electronic EP will be released this June! It features the music from my video album and the songs I produced in Germany. Stay connected with me on Instagram to keep up to date on the release!
I want to hear from you! Tag your artwork if your showcase was featured in the Manifest video.
I’m here to collaborate! Do you want to co-write? Have a work produced? Simply make some art? Reach out and let’s get started this summer. =)