The Audition Rachel Strikes A Chord In Music Industry “I’ll spread my wings and I’ll learn how to fly. I’ll do what it takes ‘til I touch the sky.” These lyrics from Kelly Clarkson’s song “Breakaway” couldn’t better describe the path that Rachel Wood is laying for herself in the world of music. The nineteen-year-old Yankton native began taking piano lessons when she was just three years old. “I remember just messing around on the piano when I was little, and I’d hear a song and I’d play the melody, what I would hear,” she recalls. Though the piano teacher didn’t teach such young students, she agreed after encouragement from Wood’s mom. Wood is thankful for the chance to learn early. Because piano is the basis of all the instruments and music theory, she feels that her early lessons have helped her significantly in her musical journey. She later progressed to learning guitar in middle school and taught herself to play the banjo and ukulele. She was writing song lyrics as a young girl but started creating her own songs in middle school, composing music to her lyrics. The aspiring musician left behind Dad, Gary and Mom, DeeDee, and younger brother Elijah, and set her sights on a larger city. She’s landed in Boston where she attends college at Berklee College of Music, now a third-semester student studying Voice Principal, intending to double major in song writing and performance. With an estimated 34% acceptance rate (www.berklee.edu), just being admitted into the school is a challenge, requiring each enrollee to partake in a demanding audition and interview process. Wood took part in a world tour audition held in Denver, Colorado, where some of the college’s teachers and coaches came to judge the enrollees. Components of the audition included a five-minute long prepared piece, an improvisation over some music, rhythm training exercises and site reading, or singing from a random piece of sheet music where they might give you the starting pitch. The site reading progresses from easiest to hardest and she was surprised when her judge picked a piece out of the middle of the book. She laughs, “I just biffed it.” She didn’t start off very well on the selected piece, so the judge stopped and selected a piece closer to the beginning of the book. She was worried that she didn’t do well and felt her confidence waiver. For the prepared piece, she chose one of her own songs and one of Taylor Swift’s songs called “Never Grow Up,” a fitting piece about growing up and going to college. During the audition, she felt that the Swift song might have been the wrong choice. She laughs, “I get to the audition room they’re like, these huge, built European men, and they all have accents. I can’t understand them!” Already anxious, her emotions snowballed and she started to cry during her performance of the song. Afraid she had not done very well on this routine, she was surprised when the men were very sweet as they commended her on her performance. The nerve-wracking process wasn’t over for her yet. She proceeded into the back room for the interview process where they questioned her about what musical feats she had accomplished so far, her goals and why she wanted to go to Berklee. When she wrapped this up, she had to wait three excruciating months to find out if she made it into the school. The Letter Wood wasn’t the first one to know if she was accepted into the Plan for the unexpected when you’re healthy. Rhonda L. Wesseln, Agent Insurance Provider/Agent 1023 W. 9th Street Yankton, SD 57078 Bus: 605-665-4411 Ask me how State Farm® health products may protect you should you become disabled due to illness or injury: • Disability insurance • Supplemental insurance • Long-term care insurance Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.® Call me today. Long-Term Care Insurance Policy Series 97063. The Long-Term Care Insurance policy has exclusions and limitations. The purpose of this communication is the solicitation of insurance. Contact will be made by an insurance agent/insurance producer or insurance company. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, Bloomington, IL. ICC16 01282 8vHERVOICEvSEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017