When he came to the Upper School in his freshman year, current junior Jacob Mapp knew singing would be a significant part of his life. His passion has only grown since participating in his elementary school choir, and he has explored a variety of musical offerings throughout his middle and high school career.
“It kind of started in elementary school where I was always in the choir,” he said. “Then in sixth grade everybody had to do something with music, whether it was band or choir, and I couldn’t play an instrument, so I did choir and just continued on with it, and I ended up being pretty good at it.”
He was a part of the Middle School a cappella group, and after fewer musical opportunities in freshman year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he decided to audition for Crimson 7 and Outlook in his sophomore year.
Jacob discussed the difference in expectations between middle and high school choir. “In middle school, it’s a lot of helping out with the music, but then you move up into higher levels, and they put a lot of it on you to learn the music,” he explained. “It’s a lot of sight reading, which forces you to learn the music yourself. I was never the best at reading music, but KO has helped me actually develop a way to learn to read it.”
In addition to his participation in the vocal groups, Jacob also decided to audition for the winter musical for the first time. “I never thought I would end up doing the musical when I first started here,” he said, “but one day Mr. Reynolds came up to me and suggested that I do the musical. I said I’d give it a try, and I’ve enjoyed it so far.”
Jacob mentioned that Choral Director Steve Mitchell has been an essential part of his journey with singing and the musical. “We have worked one-on-one with my character and that’s also helped me develop it as well,” Jacob stated.
Aside from singing, listening to music is an important part of Jacob’s everyday life. “Music is good for anything, whether you’re happy, sad, or doing something athletic, it’s really personal to you,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what type of music you listen to; if it works for you, it works for you.”
In the future, he certainly wants to continue singing throughout college and beyond. “Now that I’m a junior looking at colleges, I look to see if those colleges have a capella groups. I’m not sure if it will become a career for me, but if the option comes up, I’ll definitely look into it,” he said.
Finally, Jacob gave some thoughtful advice to his younger self. “I would tell him, ‘Hey, you’re going to be doing musical theater and it’s going to be scary at first, but once you ease yourself into it, you’ll become comfortable,’” he said. “‘You’re a talented kid, so as long as you’re outgoing with the people around you, you’ll have a good experience.’”
