Sheila Zapata
Staff Writer
Talent has been blooming over the past few weeks with junior recitals here at FSC. These recitals are a way for music students to showcase their talent and hard work to their friends, families and professors while feeling a sense of accomplishment. Gillary Santiago is one of these students, and she shares her journey through her recital in this article.
Gillary Santiago is a Senior Music Performance Major and performed her junior recital this semester back in October. Santiago is a transfer student from Polk State Community College in Winter Haven, which gives her the challenge of performing both her junior and senior recitals in the same year. As a result, she had faced many more problems compared to other non-transfer performance majors.
“It was a lot of hard work, relentless nights of practice because there’re a bunch of things that go into the pieces you’re performing because ultimately you’re performing a piece of you in an emotional way for the people you love and that takes time and it doesn’t happen on a whim,” Santiago said.
She also shares how her experience as a transfer affected her when she first came to FSC. “Each music program does things differently, so when I transferred to FSC, the biggest and most different part in a music aspect was the pressure on myself with being up to par with everyone in my grade and finding a sense of community.” Yet even with those hardships, she was able to overcome them with the help of her vocal coach, Dr. Jenny Heidtman, and multiple friends and family members.
Santiago wasn’t always a music major. She started at Polk State as a nursing major, but decided at the last minute to pursue her dreams in the music industry. “Music is something that I connected with, and it’s everywhere. I went to FSC because you hear about the amazing music department, and I wanted to have those experiences from my own perspective, and it’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I see music as an opportunity and happiness for myself,” said Santiago.
Her repertoire consisted of Un Moto Di Gioja by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, I am Rose by Ned Rorem and her favorite being Frühlingsglaube by Franz Schubert because of how calm it made her, and the meaning of the song being the acceptance of change. Santiago, being a senior, has many different paths she’s considering, one being going to graduate school for her Master’s in Music Performance.
“After FSC, I do plan to go to a grad school because of FSC, I grew a love for Opera, so I would definitely like to find things in Opera to learn along with different styles of music,” Santiago said.
Santiago’s junior recital was not only entertaining but also inspirational when you figure out who she really is. As a performer and student, she is hardworking, talented and optimistic, but as a regular person, she’s inspirational and a role model to the future music students who have to perform in their junior recitals in the coming year.
“Find the passion in your work and in what you’re doing because ultimately that will drive you to better your practice, motivate you, and put a part of yourself into the music for other people to share because ultimately music is a giving art for the people and for yourself,” Santiago said.
