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A passion for voice and music led rising senior Avery Ross ’23 to an exclusive two-week program at a private performing arts conservatory in Boston this summer.

Ross was one of about 50 students from around the country, plus a couple of international students, selected for the Vocal/Choral Intensive at Boston Conservatory at Berklee. The school grants undergraduate and graduate degrees in dance, music, and theater. 

Students immersed themselves in all things voice and performance, explored the city, and created lasting friendships with mentors and like-minded peers.

“What attracted me to this program was that it was only voice and no other instruments, so it would be more beneficial (for) the career I want,” Avery explains.

Students stayed in the dorms and took individual voice lessons and music theory classes, learned breathing and movement techniques for singers, and rehearsed with the entire group as a choir over the course of the program.

They also had an opportunity to perform individually in two solo concerts. The finale was a collaborative stage production, as well as a choral performance. 

You can watch one of Ross’s solo performances here. It’s a classical piece titled “Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal” by Roger Quilter. 

“I had about four days to learn and perfect this song before the performance,” she says. “I worked by myself and with teachers to learn about the text, symbolism, and musicality of the song.” 

Ross has applied to various summer programs for voice and music over the years to gain more experience for college, where she intends to study vocal performance.

The Vocal/Choral Intensive led Ross to realize that attending a music conservatory might be a better fit than a regular university. “Even when we weren’t singing, the connection that I felt was so strong because of the music we were making and the activities we were doing like dance, movement in acting, and learning about famous composers,” she explains. 

The experience also helped solidify Ross’s decision to pursue classical music specifically.

Since getting serious about music in 7th grade, Ross has been in all of Prep’s plays and musicals. Now, she’s assisting with middle school productions as a director. 

Ross is a member of the National Honor Society at Prep and has been on the La Chispa Literary Magazine staff for three years. She’s part of Prep’s Performing Arts Intensive, an advanced class for serious performing artists. Under that program, Ross will give a solo senior recital in the spring of 2023.

In her solo career, Ross has participated in and won multiple voice competitions and performed in many theaters around Albuquerque. She has landed leads in junior operas and leaps at any chance she gets to perform alone or with peers.

When she’s not singing, Ross likes to explore art in the form of fashion, makeup, and painting. She also enjoys hiking with friends and getting out in nature to explore.

Ross is looking forward to her senior year at Prep, where she’ll have leadership responsibilities in the choir and many aspects of the performing arts department. “Some of my goals are helping as much as I can to get the younger kids at Prep excited for choir and singing like the older kids did for me when I was younger,” she says. “I have a lot of passion for music, and I have loved seeing them discover that as well when helping with the middle school musicals and choir.”

Ross credits Prep Choir instructor Darby Fegan with encouraging her to become serious about her singing and to consider making it her career. “Being in choir with my peers and Mr. Fegan has opened my eyes to what I could do for my whole life.”