Hitting the right notes: Opera performances, experiences influence Hemling

    Ms. Katelyn Hemling is the choral director and she does much more than just teach chorus. Hemling is a part of groups outside of school, including Deer Creek Chorale which she describes as “A community chorus that performs locally.”  She adds, it’s a big group of 70 and “we also have a small groups of 6 women so I do a lot of soprano/alto music in that.” This group performs next on Saturday, March 12, 2022 Towson United Methodist Church, Towson, MD.

     Prior to teaching,  Hemling  was living in Boston, MA, working on her masters degree in Opera performance and a concentration in voice pedagogy (the science of the voice and how it works). Hemling claims “I was planning to be a full time performer, singing more and focusing on opera.” However, then the pandemic struck and Hemling moved back to Harford County.   Hemling says she got her teaching  job fairly quickly after that.

     She says she started singing from a young age and fell in love with music all throughout school. Choral music was a good outlet for her and she met all of her friends there and she enjoys the way that music can communicate in a way that words can’t. Growing up she says she had no other interests and singing was her main passion and there was nothing else besides music that spoke to her that way.

     Although she is very into opera and choral music Hemling believes her favorite genre is pop music. “I consume a lot of it, and I think people are alway surprised that she rarely listens to classical or opera music. My favorite artists are Taylor Swift and The Jonas Brothers, very basic and popular people. I find their music so fun and easy to listen to and relatable.” Hemling thinks that people  need to have time off and hobbies outside of their job so she likes to switch it up with her music to do that. 

     As Hemling has gotten older, she says that she has come to the realization that “music really helps people and I think it’s an important thing to have in your life in whatever way that is and that’s why I like to share it with people.”