Students are drawn to Concord Community Music School for a variety of reasons. Some seek the thrill of mastering a new instrument, or the harmony found in playing alongside others. Some arrive with dreams that echo on concert stages, honing their craft with passion and purpose. And others come simply to make music for the quietest of audiences—even if that audience is only their own heart.
Emma Richardson, a longtime CCMS student and graduating high school senior, decided at an early age that the Music School would be a perfect place to help her achieve one of her life goals – appearing on the TV show competition “America’s Got Talent.”
“My family is not particularly musical, but I grew up having a lot of exposure to music,” recalls Emma. “I remember watching Susan Boyle sing “I Dreamed a Dream” on “America’s Got Talent” and deciding I wanted to be on the [American version] someday, just like her and so many others I idolized.”
Emma’s dream launched with her joining some of CCMS’s most popular children’s programs: “Music and Movement” at age 3 with her grandmother, “Take Three” classes which feature instruction in piano, recorder, and movement, and the Purple Finches Youth Chorus – a group she performed with for eight years. She also cites her summers at CCMS’ Creative Arts Camp for “fostering some of my earliest friendships and fondest memories.” After taking full advantage of the School’s group offerings, Richardson began adding private lessons to her schedule, starting with piano lessons with Kathy Southworth as a grade-schooler and including voice lessons with Hannah Murray as she neared middle school.
After building a solid foundation in both voice and piano, Emma was poised to enter high school with a well-developed skill set and an eye to join a number of performing groups there.
Unfortunately, those plans were put on hold just weeks into her freshman year, when she was diagnosed with Muscle Tension Dysphonia, a voice disorder caused by excessive muscle tension in and around the voice box. The symptoms forced Emma to take a months-long hiatus from singing while she consulted vocal coaches and doctors familiar with the disorder. After considerable amounts of vocal therapy and fine-tuning her technique, she was able to re-engage with her vocal repertoire.
With her voice back to full strength, Emma has enjoyed a high school career replete with choral concerts and musical theater moments. She remained diligent in her lessons with Murray (no longer at CCMS) and Southworth, selecting varied pieces to perform, developing her ear training, and leveraging her teachers’ expertise to help with her music theory exams. Through her high school career, she has seen the change in her musical acumen, and honed in on the elements of music that are the most engaging and rewarding.
“I owe so much to all of my incredible teachers over the years,” says Emma. “In particular Maria Isaak, who has been one of my top supporters since the day I walked through the community room doors, and Kathy Southworth, who has taught me an immense amount in my eight years of piano lessons with her.”
“Although I’ve always loved musical theater, as I’ve grown, I’ve realized that my heart belongs to classical music,” she notes. “I love singing Italian arias and playing classical or romantic style pieces on the piano. After I went through my vocal trauma, I realized that singing classical music was so much healthier for my voice, and I have found a love for challenging myself to expand my classical repertoire.”
Emma will continue to challenge herself this coming fall, as she embarks on her collegiate career at UMass Amherst. She plans to double major in Vocal Performance and Theater (with an emphasis in audio engineering). While she doesn’t yet have a specific path for where her studies will take her, her many options include becoming a professional singer, a concert/theater audio engineer, or venturing into music/theater education. (And, of course, an appearance on “America’s Got Talent.”)
“I know one thing though,” she says, “and that is whatever path I end up on, music will always walk by my side.”
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