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How did you end up at UIC?

I originally applied as a business major back in 2022. I was accepted into the business college and got a full ride. After joining the choir, Dr. Liza Calisesi Maidens, the director of choir here, encouraged me to consider the music minor. After talking with Ben Kenis, Dr. Stryker, and the vocal jazz director at the time, I added the major to my coursework. Eventually, I dropped the business major, and chose to just pursue music full-time.

What has your experience in the music department been thus far? 

The professors here do a really great job of caring for their students, finding what your interests are, what career path you wanna take, and cultivating that space really well. For me, pursuing conducting has been especially rewarding because there are multiple faculty members with advanced conducting degrees who can mentor me.

How did you get involved in gospel choir? Did you start the group by yourself or were there others involved?

Gospel Choir used to be a staple at UIC. After the pandemic, it wasn’t revived when school came back in-person. When I became a music student, I found myself missing an element of singing that you don't necessarily get in the Chamber Choir, University Choir, or the Vocal Jazz Ensemble. I wanted to start a group where we could celebrate gospel music. I decided, along with a couple of other students, to revive the Gospel Choir. I put a board together—myself as president and director, a music director, a vice president, and a social media director— and filed a constitution with the center of student involvement to become a student organization. We then began rehearsals, performances, and outreach. 

What do you hope the gospel choir does for the UIC community? 

I hope it creates a space where people can come together and celebrate gospel music and Black musical traditions. While many members are Black, the choir is open to anyone interested in learning about gospel. We’re not a religious organization—we’re musicians who perform gospel music, which often has religious themes. The goal is to create a welcoming space for all students to sing, learn, and celebrate Black music.

Where do you see yourself after graduation? 

I'll apply to graduate programs this December. I plan to take the 2026–27 academic year to work in Chicago—teaching, coaching vocalists, and working with children’s choirs—before starting graduate school in 2027 to pursue a master's in conducting. From there, I’d like to focus on doing research. 

My research interests are primarily on the effects of the African diaspora on American music—how the forced migration of enslaved Africans shaped genres like blues, gospel, pop, rock, country, and R&B.

What is the future of Gospel Choir after you graduate? 

We've got a really great group of musicians and students who will continue to lead the choir. It’s a goal of ours to, eventually, have gospel choir become a class. Not just a club, but an official UIC ensemble, where you can get credit, like chamber choir or other vocal ensembles. 

What projects is the choir currently working on?

This semester, we're collaborating with Chicago’s Gospel Choir, for a clinic and concert in April. We've also been invited to sing at Englewood Sings with Uniting Voices Chicago. I hope these partnerships continue in the upcoming semesters—clinics and joint concerts and things like that.

We've also collaborated with Downtown Voices, the premiere acapella ensemble here at UIC. So, you know, more joint concerts with them, concerts on our own at various churches, and things like that.

What advice would you give an incoming UIC music student? 

Like I said earlier, I didn’t start as a music major, so I view being here as a privilege. 

I look at being here, sitting in this classroom, being allowed access to the tech lab or the practice rooms, or simply just being able to play the piano as a privilege. I could be in a business lecture, right? But I get to learn music theory from masters of music theory, and I get to learn conducting from people with doctorate degrees in conducting.  If you can adopt the mindset that this education is a privilege, you'll be successful because you'll be motivated to come to class, to do your work, and to ask your professors for help. And there won't be any struggle because you look at your degree and the work that you have to do as: I don't have to do this work. I get to do this work. 

Any final thoughts? 

Being a BA Music student can sometimes feel like you don't have a clear path, right? If you're a music business major, you have a very set path for four years, you have those internships that you do and they all lead up to something, right? Same with performance and jazz. You're working towards your recital. Music Education, you're working towards student teaching. But being a BA, there isn't really that final step. So it can feel less structured. But I encourage any BA student to not get bogged down in that and find the thing that you're passionate about. The BA degree is such a diverse degree, and it allows you that opportunity to explore unlike other degrees with a rigid path. 

And so I think don't get so bogged down by feeling like, “I don't get to have a recital” or something like that. Find what you want to do. If it's something musical, like conducting for myself, your professors are ready to help you. I've had the ability to conduct the treble choir this semester. I'm conducting the university choir and the chamber choir. You just have to create those meaningful opportunities for yourself. 

You can catch the UIC Student Gospel Choir on March 14 at Uniting Voices' "Englewood Sings!" festival. Click here for more info.