Pacific Index

Cait Wilson shares the journey that brought her to her junior voice recital 

   “I have done solo performances in the past, but not this long and not in such a formal recital format,” expresses junior Cait Wilson as she lists the details of her upcoming vocal performance. This junior recital will be a 30-minute show, performed solely by Wilson as preparation for her senior recital which will take place next spring. “…the senior recital, which I’ll do next year, which will be about an hour performance. So, doing like 20 songs and that’s like a big deal.” 

   Wilson is impressively double majoring in music therapy and vocal performances. Her plan when she started out at Pacific had nothing to do with music therapy—in fact, Wilson had very little knowledge of the major at all. When she started out as a first-year student, she wanted to study theater, but after she took an introduction class to music therapy, she found her true calling. “I did musicals, and then I just fell into music therapy kind of by chance,” she recalls. “I had a professor suggest taking the intro course because I’ve always had a passion for just wanting to better the world…and so that’s kind of how I fell into music therapy.” 

   As for her second major in vocal performance, Wilson says, “I definitely did start with a passion for musical theater.” Once she met her vocal performance professor, Wilson quickly developed a strong love for classical music. And, it’s just that which she’ll be performing at her junior recital— ten classical songs, learned and perfected over the past three years. “I have a mix of classical music, and then a few things from several operas, and then a musical theater set,” she explains. “Honestly, I’m excited for my whole set.”

   A few standout pieces that Wilson recommends looking out for from her set are, “‘In uomini” from the opera, Così Fan Tutte by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and the three movements song cycle, Poème d’un jour by Gabriel Fauré.” 

   Like most classical music, many of the songs in Wilson’s set are in a different language, which can be intimidating to approach at first. “I think it takes a lot of really good education, and luckily the professors are really helpful in providing resources for making sure we have proper enunciation and that we’re respecting the language” acknowledged Wilson gratefully. “it takes a lot of work and a lot of memorization— it doesn’t just come naturally.” 

   This set will be a compilation of all Wilson has studied and learned since her freshman year. “I’ve kind of been building off of that for my senior recital and it’s also partially a research project because we have to create our own program with composer biographies and background information on the song themselves,” she explains. The songs she’s chosen have stretched her skills and truly demonstrates all she’s learned. “I feel like it really shows my growth over the past three years as a musician…” 

   Once Wilson completes her junior and senior recitals, she plans to explore more of her career opportunities. “For music therapy, we have to do an internship and I’m hoping to work in a pediatric hospital providing music therapy for my internship and hopefully getting a full-time job,” she describes optimistically. “And then combining my passion for performance in any way that I can, whether it’s doing community shows or just going out and auditioning and just seeing where it takes me.” 

   Evidently, Wilson has a lot of love for what she does and what she hopes to do in the future. Her aspirations go beyond just a career— they’re her lifelong passions. As the date for her recital creeps ever closer, Wilson says she’s not too nervous; mostly eager. “I think I’m just most excited for being able to share my music with my peers,” Wilson says energetically. “to share how I’ve combined my academic journey with my musical journey…” 

   In parting, Wilson encourages everyone to support the upcoming recitals in the semester. “Come support everyone’s junior recitals…I think we have seven this term which is I think the most we’ve ever had. There’s a lot!”

   Wilson will perform her voice recital at noon on April 28 in McCready Hall.