When senior Kylena Torres was 3-years-old, she would sit in church waiting to hear the voices of the church choir begin to sing. Her eyes glued to her mother among the ensemble as they sang songs throughout the service. Following the service, Kylena would have her mom play a song for her as she would catch onto the exact key and notes. Whether it was through singing around the house, or her secret YouTube channel she had at 10-years-old where she would post videos of herself singing and playing the guitar or ukulele, Kylena constantly seeked out ways to share and pursue music at a young age.
“Singing with my parents, or when my dad plays guitar and I sing, it is just important to me because I get this from them,” Kylena said. “I am able to show my parents that I can be a part of that musicality and know that they are proud of me. It is a milestone to see how far I have come with music since I was little, and how I have gradually grown from watching my family perform, to now being able to be a part of it.”
Now, Kylena has been able to pursue her passion of music in many ways. She is a member and an alto section leader for the Chorale, member of SONG, being a part of the upcoming school musical: Footloose, competing in ISSMA and even working with her parents to create and record original pieces. As she creates original pieces, she looks toward personal and important aspects in her life instead of basing her music on trying to become viral.
“I personally feel a lot of new music now is just made because they think it is going to be popular, but I think what makes good music is when it is what they feel and it’s from their heart,” Kylena said. “Like when I recorded with my mom for the first time, it was a song about breast cancer awareness. This topic was really important because a lot of my family, on my mom’s side, went through breast cancer. We wrote about something that was important to us.”
Although Kylena has always had a love for music, it wasn’t until she came to Munster her junior year that she truly knew she wanted to have music be part of her future career. Kylena hopes to be part of a college choir and go into music education.
“I said I wanted to be a marine biologist in middle school, which is obviously not what I’m doing,” Kylena said. “At my previous school, music was not cared for as it is here. When I see Mr. Luke McGinnis teach, I know he really loves his job and the students. That motivated me that I could do this.”
Sam Thompson, senior
How did you get into music?
“I started with a drum set,” Sam Thompson, senior, said. “My grandparents and great uncle have held jam nights at their house ever since before I was born. My uncle would teach me how to play these little grooves on the drum set, then I got into different types of percussion.”
“My mom went to college for theater and started a company in Chicago that put on productions in different venues,” Sam said. “It inspired me because I was able to understand that I could support myself as a musician as a career and it’s not impossible. They’re very supportive of the arts and music, so they’ve always been encouraging to me.”
How do you pursue music?
Sam has not just been involved in winter percussion and band, he has written the winter percussion music the past two years. From completely original pieces to arrangements, he has worked on building a portfolio. Hoping to pursue music, Sam auditioned at eight colleges.
“Some people don’t appreciate the arts in high school as much as they should,” Sam said. “Even if they’re not involved, like [they can] be supportive and come to shows. Music programs are really helpful to some people, they help develop people socially and provide a lot of opportunities. It’s great that we have a month of appreciation for it.”
Sam has also spent the year working on a completely original piece for choir to perform with percussion at their May 8 concert—his first choral piece ever,
“It is one of the most impressive things I’ve ever seen anyone do, let alone a student,” Mr. Luke McGinnis, choir director, said. “It’s phenomenal, I’m so excited. I’m so proud of him. I just cannot even believe it. It’s something that he willed into existence and he really did it.”
“Since August, I’ve been working on it—just sort of morphing it and talking with him and making edits—to make sure it is as good as possible for the performance and my portfolio,” Sam said.
Cash Sturges, freshman
Inspired by wanting to learn how to play his favorite genre, Ska, a Jamaican type of jazz, Cash Sturges, freshman, started playing the guitar in 2021. Self-taught, Cash has been writing, producing and releasing his own music for the past two years under the name Dr. MLG. Although he was able to learn songs very quickly, it took about a year to proficiently play the styles of music he likes.
“My favorite part of learning is just, you get like a crazy amount of serotonin in your brain when you learn how to do something,” Cash said. “The other part is just making something that sounds that people like.”
Despite finding it difficult to align schedules and work with a consistent band, Cash has previously been involved with bands with his friends. He credits his uncle for getting him into Pink Floyd, which opened him up to some of his other favorite bands and musicians—Steely Dan, Will Wood, Kill Lincoln, Green Day and Knocked Loose.
“It’s just the same reason that all arts are important—it’s an expression of human experience,” Cash said. “It’s how you express yourself and express how you feel about things.”
The first song he wrote was inspired by a concert he attended, particularly taking some of those musical concepts and showing his band to experiment with. Eventually coming up with a guitar riff and lyrics, he made it into a song.
“It was not that well produced or anything, but I don’t regret publishing it,” Cash said. “It has led to better songs being published.”
In addition to producing his own music, Cash also played bass guitar in the choir performance March 6. Hoping to pursue a career in music, Cash’s goal is to put out an album and consistently play live shows.
“Even if no one comes to them,” Cash said. “It’s just very fun to play.”
Olivia Doolin, sophomore
Sitting in a cathedral in Barcelona, Olivia Doolin, sophomore, looked around and admired the architecture surrounding her. On tour in Spain and France with her fellow string musicians from a Northwestern music group last summer, they played their pieces in various churches and cathedrals, hearing them in a new light. Her passion for playing the violin sprouted from her love for classical music at an early age, which was fostered by her parents through “Baby Einstein.”
“I really value that experience and the patience that it takes. Also, it just sounds pretty,” Olivia said.
Reflecting on all the places music has taken her, Olivia also recalls the times where it was hard. Playing the violin since she was five and spending hours every Saturday traveling to play, she has found it difficult at times to want to keep pushing through difficult pieces. But, she credits her parents for encouraging her to keep going.
“Just the difference between somebody who loves music and who’s just doing it, is that that person won’t quit,” Olivia said. “They’ll just keep going at it even when it’s uncomfortable and not fun, and when your back hurts really bad or when you get a hand cramp. I just find that pretty great how I was able to continue something and have that stability throughout ten years of my life. I’ve always been super turbulent, but there’s been a few things in my life that have been consistent and it’s been my love for playing.”
Involved in various orchestras, music groups and chamber groups in Chicago—where she moved from last year—she appreciates being able to get to know people in a unique way.
“Even if we weren’t talking to each other in a chamber or an orchestra, you get to know people through their playing,” Olivia said. “I really like learning how to work with people and blend with their sound, especially in chambers when it’s more intimate. I think that’s a really important aspect, not just playing music, but getting to know the people around you and learning to be able to communicate in ways when you are not actually talking.”
Aside from providing her with prestigious opportunities, she thinks it has helped her learn discipline, patience and perseverance. She also recognizes some of her continuous struggles, such as her stage fright while performing, which she navigates through by putting herself in situations where she might be a little uncomfortable at first.
“It takes a lot of time and effort to play your instrument and sit yourself down and do the uncomfortable things—like playing scales, etudes and arpeggios because no one likes to do that stuff—but it’s really important for you,” Olivia said.
Aside from the skills gained from being a part of various music groups, she has met some of her best friends through music.
“I really value that because I always felt really alone, which is so silly, but I really wanted to make friends over something I really loved,” Olivia said. “I’ve met some great people and had some very interesting experience and they have made me a more well rounded person.”
Ari Jamerson, senior
Kept stored in her phone’s voice memos, amongst the 30 other original songs she has written, was one of senior Ari Jamerson’s favorite original songs: Little Girl, I’m Sorry. Ari produced this song in April of 2023, and did not plan on sharing it anytime soon. Then, her dad, who works in music and film production, randomly came up to her a couple months later and said, “pick your favorite one of your songs, we are going to start making a music video tomorrow.”
“It was so crazy,” Ari said. “I wrote out how I wanted it to look, and my dad helped me plan all the shots and establish the story line. It was cool because I got to include all my passions into this video: dancing, acting, and singing. However, once we finished the project, I held onto it for a while because it was very personal to me. The song is about talking to me as a little girl and apologizing for not taking care of her all the time. I was scared of putting something so personal out there at first, but I finally decided that on my 18th birthday I would release it, and I was certainly proud of myself.”
Ari initially began singing due to the influence of her parents being singers and her grandparents playing piano. However, she found herself growing her own individualized passion for music as she got older.
“I have always been around music when I was younger, but I have been able to grow as a singer since then,” Ari said. “Especially through joining choir, I have been able to appreciate music more on my own and challenge myself. I think I have the perfect mix of both my parents that makes me my own unique style. I have been inspired by my mom’s passion as she sings, and I love the creation of the music itself, which I get from my dad.”
As Ari watches her dad work in projects, she has had the opportunity to take part in them as well. In, Sept. 2023, Ari’s dad was asked to film a video for an conference opener at the Ranger Stadium in Dallas, Texas. Ari was able to sing vocals and choreograph a dance for the project.
“I think that might have been my favorite project that I got to be a part of with my dad,” Ari said. “It was such a cool experience. All my surroundings and experiences have inspired me to pursue music in my future.”
Ari hopes to study music production and musical engineering in college to continue to sharpen her skills, while still keeping up with singing.
“I really just want to be able to to inspire people and through my music, and be able to uplift people into a beautiful voice for our generation,” Ari said. “Doing what I love and hopefully bringing life and encouragement and life through my music: that’s my biggest passion.”
Lawrence and Lorenz Slack
How did you get into music?
“I started with music because of a punishment from my parents,” Lawrence Slack, sophomore, said. “Our mom told our dad that we needed to do more, so our dad was like ‘your punishment is playing drums for the youth choir.’ I was like ‘ok, sure.’ I already had an interest in playing drums, so I do not know how it really was a punishment. I was just like, ‘thank you, I guess.’”
Why is music important to you?
“It’s an escape from the world,” Lorenz Slack, senior, said. “As soon as you put on your headphones and that first sound comes through, it is like an automatic lock on my brain. Music has always been motivating for me, and blocks out the negativity around me.”
Where to listen: Zo B’Lenciii on Spotify and Apple Music
