I walk into the kitchen, smelling the aroma of my Dad’s homemade tomato sauce, as the song changes from Tony Bennett to Frank Sinatra. Later that night, I put on my tights and leotard. The classics play through the minivan as note after note, I get closer to my dance studio. Back home, I take a shower, humming the song from our routine. I crawl into bed, giddy for my Mom to sing My Favorite Things to help me fall asleep. Music is all around me. It always has been, and I’ve since grown a deep passion for creating it. 

Having both my parents work in theatre greatly influenced my appreciation for music. My dad introduces me to older artists and genres that I may have never found without him, and no matter the mood, my mom has a song for every occasion. Listening to music my whole life revealed that I have pitch memory, hearing a note or pattern in a song and correlating it to another. I’m also capable of hearing an interval and recognizing a song with the same one, even in a different key. I’ve made these connections since I was young and, as I matured as a musician, began to discover how I can apply them as I further my education in Music Technology. From my first dance class at age four, I’ve learned so much about rhythm and musicality, which also helped me with playing the clarinet, teaching myself guitar, and starting my music production journey. 

I’ve always loved seeing how things work behind the scenes. The first musical I ever attended was Beauty and the Beast. Hearing the orchestra play, I immediately felt the magic. During every show, I’d turn around and see my dad taking notes for the actors. I watched professionals work the sound board. I’d sit up in my seat trying to see the pit. Eventually, I went from observing to talking to the conductor, David Andrew Rodgers. I was recently given the opportunity to sit in on a recording session at the Power Station at BerkleeNYC, recording sweetening tracks for Beauty and the Beast. I made connections with people like David, as well as sound designer John Shivers. I also had the chance to watch a tech rehearsal, where the head of sound, Will Koch, showed me what he does during a show. I recently spent the day with sound designer Walter Trarbach at St. John the Divine, working on a concert for The Public Theater. I met with composer Clare Manchon to discuss her work on films, and I will also be observing Alejandro Venguer, a scoring and mixing engineer, in the future. 

As I continue my journey with music, my appreciation for it will forever remain. Growing up with music always playing, dancing since age four, and attending musicals when I was young have all influenced my adoration for music and helped me decide that it’s what I want to do for the rest of my life.