I was browsing the internet, and happened to click on the link to listen to a cover of a song I like. I was astonished by what I heard – mainly, how autotuned it was. This, coupled with the fact that I recently downloaded the Soundcloud app for my iPhone, gave me the inspiration necessary to spend ten minutes of my time recording a one-take, piano/vocal cover of a beautiful song by Darren Criss called “Sami.” The song was used in the Team Starkid web series Little White Lie, as well as rewritten and used in A Very Potter Musical. It’s an easy song for me to sing emotionally (if not vocally), and I’ve been performing it for a while. If this cover works out, I may post more quick recordings as I am inspired (and I would happily consider any requests). Please let me know what you think of my version of “Sami.”

(Find it on Soundcloud)

This post is especially for whoever will be participating in the reading of my piece this Tuesday at Sanderson during lunch. Below you can find the score, as well as a recording of the parts to listen to.

The Rainy Day (PDF Score)
The Rainy Day (Audio)

I like trying new things. It’s a lot of fun, and pretty much the only way to learn. A fabulous example of trying new things was this year’s Variety Show.

I had the amazing chance to perform in the anual Sanderson High School Variety Show a third time this year; I performed the last two years as well. This year, I also helped to sound design and mix the show, which I did to a slightly lesser extent last year. So what was new about this year? Drag.

Yeah. I may have dressed up like the pop music sensation Ke$ha. Someone will put photos up somewhere, I promise.

I also performed a medley of pop songs as the finale to the show. The video of that performance is below.

I would like to thank Hannah and Dakota for making the tech booth the happiest place on earth, and Mrs. Larsen for this amazing opprotunity!

The songs in my medley were:
1. Rebecca Black – Friday
2. Keri Hilson – Pretty Girl Rock
3. Maroon 5 – Moves Like Jagger
4. Nicki Minaj – Super Bass
5. P!nk – Raise Your Glass
6. LMFAO – Party Rock Anthem
7. Lady Gaga – The Edge of Glory
8. Katy Perry – Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)

(Watch on Youtube)

Let me know what you think, and thanks for watching/listening!

A while ago, I decided it would be a fun excersize in production to make a cover of Ne-Yo’s song “Closer.” I worked on it for a while, finished it, and then left it to sit stagnantly on my hard-drive.

My very good friend, Adam Fitzmaurice, came over recently to listen to some recordings I made of other things (which, who knows, I might decide to share) and decided that I should post this cover online. He was kind enough to make a lyric video to go along with it, so I decided I would. The result is below. I sincerely hope you enjoy it!

(Watch on Youtube)

Firstly, I’d just like to congratulate the rest of the amazing cast of Macbeth at North Raleigh Arts and Creative Theatre for a great opening weekend. The show is going really well, and if you haven’t seen it, there are six shows left – Sept. 16, 17, 23, and 24 at 8:00PM and Sept. 18 and 25 at 3:00PM. (Full details can be found here)

Additionally, check out these posts from Triangle Arts and Entertainment about the show:

• Preview/Interview with the Director
• Review

Ladies and Gentleman,

It is my duty, my pleasure, and my honor to introduce the following song. I had the opprotunity to record this cover of “Need You Now,” as performed by Lady Antebellum, with my good friend Lindsey Atkins before she disappeared, destined for an uncharted land some call “College.” All the instruments on the recording were played by me, the female is Lindsey, and the male is also me. I did a quick mix of the song, but it’s not perfect. Never-the-less, I hope you enjoy it.

Hello,

I spent most of my summer at the North Carolina Governor’s School; my program, West, was located on the campus of Salem College in Winston-Salem, NC. If you know me personally and have spoken to me since I returned home on July 23, I have undoubtedly mentioned it hundreds of times. My six weeks as a member of the GSW choir were the happiest of my life, and the program – and it’s mind-stretching teachings, the amazingly talented (and just plain amazing) students, and the spectacular faculty – have left a mark on me that I can never get rid of, not that I’d ever wish to.

However, I’ve been asked by many to explain “What is Governor’s School?” (This question is usually followed by some kind of “You’re going to be a governor?” joke) I’ve found answering that question a lot harder than you’d think, and I’m having a tough time of it now. I can try to put in to words the classes, both Area 1 (each students dedicated area of focus – mine was Chorus) and the shared courses (which include a study of phillosophy, discussions on ourselves and our society, and 120 optional seminars), but I can’t do them justice. I could try to list every single person who impacted me personally in my time there, but that would take an infinite amount of space, and you’d either not understand or be jealous. So, the only way I can possibly think of to give even the briefest of glimpses into the Governor’s School program is to list for you the questions asked by my fellow students on the last day, when select attendees posed to us the questions they think about in hopes that we, too, could think on them. Below are their names and their questions.

• Elijah Andrews: If we agree with John Cage that all sounds are equal, then are all musical compositions equal?
• Peter Ayuso: Can individuality truly exist if our opinions are subject to other peoples’ judgements?
• Nikki Behnke: We are currently ranked 25th in the world in math education, and one fifth of us still believe that the sun revolves around the earth. Can we still call America a superpower?
• Ellen Boyette: Why do we equate success with fulfillment?
• Meg Crenshaw: In what ways are we privileged? In what ways does privilege blind us?
• Cierra Cotton: Man enters the world as an equal but leaves with classifications, such as race and sexual orientation. Are these classifications merely for quantifying, or are they keeping some individuals forever subordinate in our society?
• Michael Elderkin: If we learn from our mistakes, then why are we so afraid to make them?
• Yana Ginzburg: When does quirkiness become conformity?
• Merrvin Funn: After being faced with some of these questions, in what ways might you feel challenged?
• Marc Gutierrez: Will we fall back into the systemized routine of high school, or will we challenge what is accepted and really engage in our education?
• Xiaoyan Han: What makes a person mature?
• Olivia Hanley: Por qué no leemos los letreros hasta que ya nos hemos perdido? That is to say, why don’t we read the signs until we’re already lost?
• Sarah Lerner: Are we a family or an army?
• Tara McKinnon: When everything moves so quickly, what lives beyond the moment it inhabits?
• Eva McKinsey: When humans start dying instead of polar bears, will people still be drinking out of plastic water bottles?
• Emilia San Miguel: Does it matter that there is an increasing gap between the rich and the poor if the standard of living for the poor keeps going up?
• Eduardo Meneses: In today’s society, do we miss out on who someone truly is by labeling them?
• Natanya Montgomery: Why is it that our generation feels the constant need to be connected? Why are we so afraid of being alone?
• Luis Morales: With nothing to observe it, can anything truly exist?
• Anisha Padma: How do we determine the end of a revolution?
• Elaina Philpott: How can we balance the interests of our own species with the need to preserve others?
• Hannah Schwartz: What relationships do we miss out on simply because the person in front of us isn’t the exact one we’ve been looking for?
• Justin Shannin: How can you describe yourself without limiting yourself?
• Jacob Simpson: How does where you are from change the way a person looks at where you are going?
• Emily Smith: What elements determine quality in creative mediums and how do we decide what those elements are?
• Nancy Smith: In social and economic terms, is the ethical choice only availible to our upper classes?

I hope this glimpse of GSW can answer better than I that question. I’d also just like to thank everyone involved in the program for what it has meant to me, and hundreds of others this year, and thousands of others for the last 49, and what it can mean for thousands of more. (If you’d like to help the program continue, please make a donation to the NC Governor’s School Foundation)

For all things that have been, “Thanks;” and to all things that will be, “Yes.”

Greetings. Just to keep this brief, I plan on using this blog as a place to post news, information, and random ramblings. Thanks for visiting this website!