Story by Bridget Gibley, Culture Intern 
Photo courtesy of Nina Gropp

Meet Sophomore Theresa Redmond: singer, pianist, songwriter and sugar cube enthusiast. You’ve probably seen her around campus at various student showcases or music performances. And if you don’t know her, you definitely want to get to know her. She’s incredibly talented and just about the sweetest girl you’ll ever meet.

Theresa is majoring in vocal music performance and minoring in writing. She’s definitely chosen these areas of study well, as she says her two favorite things are singing and songwriting.

“I do anything that has to do with singing,” Theresa says.

Looking at her list of activities, she’s not kidding. Theresa sings in the AQ College Chorus, Women’s Chorus, and the Collegiate Choir. She’s also a part of AQ Acappella and is vice president of Abandon Praise and Worship.

She was also a contestant on this year’s AQ Idol. Even though she didn’t make it through to the next round, Theresa had a good time. She says it was a nice break from her usual musical theatre and classic songs to get to sing a Sara Bareilles pop song.

Theresa’s musical style is very melodic, softer pop, with some of her main influences being Ingrid Michaelson and Jes Hudak.

When asked when she started singing, she laughed and answered, “Probably as soon as I could talk.”

She’s been writing song lyrics since middle and high school, and started writing the music on the piano since the summer before her freshman year at Aquinas.

“[Singing and songwriting] is how I vent my emotions,” she says.

When she’s not singing, though, Theresa enjoys horseback riding, writing (mainly poetry and fiction), and Netflix. She’s also extremely passionate about Pepsi being better than Coke, and Pepsi slushees being the best.

Theresa chose Aquinas partially because of the music staff and the people involved in the music department here. And since she’s been here, she’s been loving the music department. The professors and the courses have helped her become more aware of some of the habits she has that are bad for her voice, and she says this has been immensely important in her singing technique.

Theresa is also close with other music students as well; she lives with three of them in an apartment where they have turned a pantry into a practice room and have impromptu jam sessions.

“It’s so nice living with people who understand… I rant about music sometimes,” Theresa admits.

She’s also gotten involved in Aquinas theatre, as she was in the cast of last year’s “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.” She counts this among her favorite memories at Aquinas, because she got to play Olive, a character who is very similar to herself.

If you’re interested in seeing Theresa perform, she will be at the next Abandon Praise and Worship night, Feb. 22 at 8:45 p.m., and the next Music Student Showcase, Feb. 25 at 7:30 p.m. She’ll also be joining the Women’s Chorus as they participate in the West Michigan Opera Project performance of “The Marriage of Figaro” Feb. 17 at 7:30 p.m.

Theresa just changed majors, but she’s confident in her decision. After college, she’s not sure what she wants to do, but knows that it will have something to do with singing.

“If I stick with [music], I will find some place for myself in the world.”