Let's Begin! (A little bit about me)

I have loved music all my life. I come from a musical background, with my mom's mom, my aunt and my mom all having choir backgrounds, and my dad's mom and my dad both being pianists. I also have siblings who play the violin, viola, cello, piano and sing. At about age three I would sing nursery rhyme songs using my grandparent's fireplace for a stage during family gatherings. I loved singing every week in Primary, and it helped that my dad was the Primary pianist. At age six I was in a singing group called "Kathy's Kids," and I still remember the actions to some of the songs we did. When I turned seven, my dad started me on piano and I still, somehow, have the ability to play. At age ten, I started violin in school and played all the way through my senior year in high school, being able to play in the pit orchestra for our high school musical "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat." At twelve, I joined choir in church, and at thirteen I picked it up in school. The violin was my instrument of choice for a while, until I graduated high school. After high school I had the privilege of taking violin, voice and cello lessons for a period of time, and I tried my luck in auditions for the ASU Herberger School of Music with no avail, so I'm minoring in music instead. I have also auditioned for the Symphony of the Southwest and EVMCO, for the experience if nothing else, and I am auditioning again for EVMCO this September on violin. I have also tried my hand at the viola, upright string bass, half-size harp and acoustic guitar, but singing will always be my first love. I have never given a thought to going professional because I love being able to play and sing at my leisure, and I am still able to perform for the extended family every Christmas Eve. I love almost all types of music, but my favorites are musicals and classical music. One of my favorite things to do while listening to classical music is to guess the era and composer before the piece ends. If that doesn't make me a music nerd then I don't know what does! I have also taken part in an a capella group. Right now, I do anything from writing lyrics to arranging two- and three-part songs for Christmas to writing quartet pieces for my siblings and I to play.


That is a look into the talent portion of my music, but I also have a thirst for the knowledge of how music affects people and why they listen to the kind of music they do. I have worked a bit with different aspects of how people with diseases and disabilities are affected by and respond to music, and I get a lot of my research from Oliver Sacks, especially from his book entitled "Musicophilia." I have also dabbled in music therapy and how that career can be both challenging and rewarding, as well as how music therapy helps reach people who have had all other hopes abandoned by them and those around them. I find it particularly interesting on how certain music helps with stress, which I am kin to. Music theory also fascinates me, because of all the different ways one can write a piece of music, and all the different tools they have at their disposal. It answers all of the 'why' questions I so frequently ask when I'm learning something new. Last, but most certainly not least, I love the different feelings I get with the different pieces of music. Each piece or song speaks to me differently, even if I'm using two for the same thing. I love the way music joins together the most unlikely people, sometimes in the most awkward situations, and makes them friends through even a single song. "Music is what feelings sound like," and it is universal.