Published: May 17, 2009 12:00 am      

Teen Talk: On The Go: Taking singing across the pond

On July 6, Cherry Valley-Springfield junior Emily Searles will be on a flight to Paris to do what she loves most: sing.

Emily and a select group of high school musicians chosen on the basis of teacher recommendations and musical talent will be touring Europe from July 6 through 22, sightseeing and performing concerts through the American Music Abroad program.

Honor bands, choirs and orchestras will play concerts in Paris, Normandy, Bruges, Heidelberg, Zurich and other European cities in between scheduled activities such as a visit to the Musée d'Orsay, a cable-car ride through the Alps, and a Tirolean Folk Fest with traditional Austrian music.

For Emily, the American Music Abroad Honors Choir is one more musical ensemble to add to her long list. In school, the enthusiastic soprano and flutist is involved in band, jazz band and choir, often earning solos and descant parts due to her broad vocal range and beautiful vibrato.

In addition, Emily is a member of the Van Hornesville Voices community choir and the Catskill Choral Society, the latter of which required her to audition for a selective soprano spot. Emily has been annually chosen for All-County Band, All-County Choir and Area All-State Choir, and performs solos each year for the New York State School Music Association festival.

After attending Signature Band and Choir Camp at Ithaca College and honing her vocal abilities, Emily began taking private lessons for piano, classical voice and jazz voice.

She was also a participant in the Sherburne All-Star Band and a "shadowing program" at the Glimmerglass Opera.

Through the program she learned about the life of a professional singer through proximity with a performer in the Opera's Young Artists program. Emily is "" quite literally "" always singing.

When she learned that she had been nominated for the American Music Abroad program, Emily was determined to go.

Though it's an expensive trip, she thinks of it as a dream come true: being able to sing with exceptionally talented musicians from across East Coast, surrounding herself with artists as passionate as herself, and travelling through Europe. What more could she want?

Additionally, Emily's experience in Europe will make her a more-appealing candidate to colleges, a fact she's considering as she begins her search for the right school. She plans to audition for the Berklee School of Music, Ithaca College and State University College at Fredonia, all of which have competitive music programs. "To get into Berklee would be a dream," says Emily, sighing. "It's what I'll be focusing all my energy and work toward for the next few months. At Berklee, I'd get a vocal jazz performance degree, or possibly a dual major with music business, or music education."

At college, Emily hopes to find people who feel as passionately about music as she does. "I believe that music is something everyone has in common," she tells me. "We don't all agree on what genre we like to listen to, but we all agree to listen to something. I can't imagine what my life would be like if I couldn't just walk down the street or wait in the lunch line without being able to sing."

Emily has wanted to be a performer since her grandfather, an English teacher and play director at Mount Markham Central School, took her with him to work on stage sets when she was 4. While he worked, Emily clambered onto the stage and began dancing and singing by herself.

Music has always been a passion, a refuge, and a dream that's now coming true.

Maggie Millner is a senior at Cherry Valley-Springfield Central School.