Every Period one, singers in KO choirs gather and begin creating a beautiful piece of music. Whenever they are together, there is always laughter and the sound of joy. Every singer here is unique. Senior Lidia Martinez-Castro is one of them and describes herself as “a run-of-the-mill singer.” However, her solid musical skills and great sense of humor make her an irreplaceable part of the community.
Lidia showed her interest in music when she was a little kid. At that time, her favorite show was “My Little Pony,” and she would always sing along to its songs. Her musical journey began when she was in third grade after joining the choir in her elementary school and realizing how much she enjoyed singing in a group.
Since then, she has continued singing in choirs. When Lidia started at KO in Middle School, she joined the a capella group, Octopipers. After singing in the Middle School for three years, she joined Community Choir and the select choir, Voce, in high school. Later, she used her strong music skills to earn a place in KO’s more advanced choir, Outlook, and the a capella group Oxfordians.
She has done some beautiful pieces with those choirs and made many happy memories. One of the memorable experiences she had was in seventh grade, when the then choir director, Steve Mitchell, repeatedly asked her to sing louder although she felt she was trying her best. Because of that, she wonders whether she is loud enough when she is sitting in the back of the choir room.
Lidia has been singing for roughly 10 years, and she has developed a strong musical foundation. History Chair and Performing Arts teacher David Baker said that she always handles the hard pieces and parts really well. “Solid,” Mr. Baker described her. “Really strong sight reader, wonderful intonation, and she stays beautifully in tune. She’s precise, she blends really nicely with other voices, and she has her own qualities.”
Lidia has also mentioned that she is good at sight-reading, which is a really important ability for singers, because she used to play the violin. However, that’s not her only strength, as she can sing both soprano and alto and easily switch between the two parts. She is also willing to take on the challenging part of the song and practice to make it better. Last year, she sang “Didn’t My Lord Deliver Daniel” with the choir, a song with complex harmonies, but after practicing and working together, the group gave an impressive performance.
Passion plays an important role if someone keeps doing an activity. “It’s something that I couldn’t imagine myself not doing,” Lidia said. She is passionate about singing and continues to improve her own skills while helping other group members. “I think she’s a very supportive person to other people,” Mr. Baker said. “She wants to see everybody thrive.” He also mentioned that, in his memory, Lidia has never brought negative energy to the group and always uses her passion to influence others.
Singing in choir doesn’t just satisfy a requirement; for Lidia, it’s also a process of learning. Lidia encourages KO singers to keep doing choir since she learned so much from it. “Everyone makes mistakes,” she admits, “and the fun part of singing comes from making those mistakes. You are never gonna get better if you don’t try.” Through singing in choirs, she became more confident and improved her enunciation while other singers learned something from her. “I feel like she reminds me regularly that choir is not just an academic thing that you are pursuing or even just an artistic thing,” Mr. Baker said, “but it’s also a community. And, it’s important that we connect and find joy or humor in moments.”
Lidia chose three words to define her current music journey: “community,” “confidence,” and “magical.” Since she is a senior, she plans to continue to sing in college. The end of high school is not the end of her music journey but the beginning of a new chapter. We all hope Lidia can bring her passion for music wherever she goes.
