Whiz Kid Ariel Villa Discusses 'Music In Words'

Student:  Ariel Villa

Age:  18

School and Grade:  West Potomac High School, senior

Accomplishment: Selected for Virginia All-State Chorus

Fort Hunt Patch:  Can you talk about your musical experience?

Ariel:  I have been in choir since fifth grade. I will be majoring in vocal performance in college.  That’s because freshman year we did Vivaldi’s Gloria and it was just utter joy  - every rehearsal and especially the performance.   I was elated every single time, even during late night rehearsals.  The year after that we did Handel’s Messiah which was just as amazing.   I decided that that’s what I want to do:   I want to sing classical music like opera or classical masterwork.  The colleges where I interviewed asked if I love Shakespeare so much how did I choose to go into music?   I told them Shakespeare is like music in words.

Patch:  What are the challenges in singing?

Ariel:  It takes a lot of daily work.   You have to treat your voice like an instrument.  Sometimes you hit a plateau:  you are working on something and you have to hold your muscles just right and it doesn’t seem like it should be that hard.  But the feeling is amazing when you get it.  Also, you’re putting yourself out there .  You’re saying, “Here I am.  Judge me.”   

Patch:  I understand you’re also an active thespian, particularly in Shakespeare plays.  How did you get involved in studying and performing Shakespeare?

Ariel:  I’ve always loved reading and language in general.  In the summer after 8^th grade, I did a summer Shakespeare program.  I loved it so much that I did it three years in a row.  I started reading his sonnets and I fell in love.  This year, my senior year, I played one of the most amazing roles I’ve ever had – Titania in Midsummer Night’s Dream.  Other people in the play also love Shakespeare’s work.  It’s great having friends that share my love of Shakespeare.   I take a Shakespeare elective and it’s the best part of my day. 

Patch:  What are the challenges in your study of Shakespeare?

Ariel:  Sometimes the biggest challenge to overcome with Shakespeare is trying to share it with others, because  Shakespeare has gotten this stigma that it’s a different language.  People get scared of it, or they think, “Oh, I’m not that kind of person.”  There are a few words we don’t use anymore, but it has love and action and dirty jokes everywhere.  It was made to please the same human emotions that we have today.

Patch:  What is the thing you are happiest about having done, in either music or Shakespeare plays?

Ariel:  My choir is the at West Potomac High School and we were invited last fall along with a few other choral groups from the area to sing at the Kennedy Center for the Anti-Defamation League Concert .  We were singing with the National Symphony Orchestra.  We sang “Somewhere” from West Side Story [by Leonard Bernstein].  People in the audience were crying.  That was a perfect example of the power of what music can do and how i want to spend the rest of my life with music.  I really hope I get another chance to do a performance like that.

Patch:  How do you keep going with all your endeavors?

Ariel:  I do work best under pressure, which helps me a lot.  I have to stay very organized.  There’s always something to work on.  When I get frustrated, I get almost defiant, like I’m GOING to get this right so I can move on to the next thing.

After this interview took place, Patch learned that Ariel was accepted to the Music Program at University of Maryland, College Park.  She also made it into the Honors College. 

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