As seniors start receiving acceptance letters and committing to schools, they are also getting excited about the college years to come; for some of our seniors, this means pursuing their passions in singing!
For example, senior Olivia Coxon, who has been singing in various a capella groups at KO since eighth grade, will be attending Northeastern University next year.
Since Northeastern is a larger school, Olivia said she is excited about getting involved in singing there, too. “Northeastern has like six a capella groups because it’s such a big school,” she said. “So I thought along with being in a great location, it has so many different, great opportunities for me to continue my passion in college without it being my major.”
Even though singing won’t be her major at Northeastern, Olivia is passionate about continuing her love for music in college and beyond. “I never want to stop singing,” she said.
Olivia has been performing at regional and all-state a capella competitions since middle school, and found one of her favorite songs at All-States last spring. Songs similar to “The Seal Lullaby” by Eric Whitacre are her favorite, which she sang in KO’s co-ed a capella group Outlook this year.
“Every year there’s just one really beautiful song that we sing in Outlook that has incredible harmonies and everything, and there’s just one song that sticks with me for the whole year,” she said.
Olivia became interested in singing when she was little along with her twin brother senior Charlie Coxon, who is looking to continue singing at Babson College.
Charlie has been singing at KO for five years, and said he enjoys the relationships that are formed through singing with other people. “I love performing with my friends and building relationships with so many great people,” he said.
Charlie said his passion comes from the feelings evoked by music. “There’s no better feeling than really nailing a song for the first time,” he said. “It’s absolutely electric and is totally worth all of the practice it takes to get it perfect.”
Charlie also uses music as a way to unwind. “After a long day of classes, I can sing and just forget about everything else,” he said.
Senior Emma Kate Johansen agreed that music is a good stress reliever. “It’s kind of just calming,” she said. “It’s something fun that I get to do and a lot of my friends sing, too.”
Currently undecided on which college she’s going to, Emma Kate said she has applied to Ithaca College and Syracuse University among others and hopes that no matter where she ends up, she will still be able to sing.
Another senior passionate about singing is Eryk Jones, who has been singing at KO since sixth grade and has been a part of every male a capella group from Upper Prep Choraliers to Crimson 7, and more.
While he isn’t majoring in music, Eryk definitely wants to audition for a capella groups in college. “I’ve applied to Skidmore and Connecticut College, which are two schools in particular that have very highly regarded a capella groups,” he said. “So I’d be really excited to sing at either one of those places, or at any of the other schools I’ve applied to as well.”
Like Charlie, Eryk’s favorite aspect of singing is the connections he forms with people through music.
“I definitely just like the experience of making music with other people and building that friendship through something that we all have in common,” he said.
