Student Publications
University of Houston
151C Communications Bldg
Houston, TX 77204-4015
713.743.5350

©1991-2007
Student Publications,
All rights reserved.

Last modified:

Contact:
ktruitt@uh.edu

Life & Arts

Singer excels at lifelong passion

UH vocal performance graduate student strives 
to make it big on world stage 

by JENNIFER PEACOCK 
The Daily Cougar

While many children participate in elementary school choirs, there are few who stick out and make a name for themselves at a young age. For UH vocal performance graduate student Samantha Gill, her eighth grade role in The Sound of Music as Mother Abbess was only the beginning. 

Gill also has a background in musical theater, starting in a slew of high school musicals in her career including Bye Bye Birdie and Peter Pan.

"I started playing the piano at the age of five and played for 10 years, " Gill said.

She didn't take her first voice lesson until her junior year, however, and wasn't formally trained until her undergraduate studies at Tulane University. She attended Tulane on a music scholarship and earned a bachelor's in English and a bachelor's degree in vocal performance. 

Gill has been featured in a handful of operas as a graduate student at the Moores School of Music, including Flight, Cherubin, Street Scene and Flavio and will be featured in the coming Ghost of Versailles. 

With graduation right around the corner, Gill said that she has worked hard for the last six years honing her vocals skills, dedicating at least two hours six days a week to singing while making occasional appearances at local venues. 

"I've sang pretty much all over the place -- a couple of churches around town, at Houston Grand Opera for Boris Godunov and a few jazz concerts," Gill said. 

Gill's vocals have a thick, rich sound, but as a mezzo-soprano she has the ability to sing almost as high as a full soprano. She has what is considered lower timbre vocals. 

"When I am performing my entire concern is never just on how I sound," Gill said. 

When singing, Gill said most of her attention is focused toward her words and making sure the drama in her voice is up to par with her vocal technique. 

"There is a release that comes along with singing. When I sing, the things that I'm thinking about are so specific that it's almost a form of meditation," Gill said. "I am so concentrated on this one set of ideas that singing for me is so relaxing and natural. It's my ability not to express how I'm feeling, but to pull emotions from the people I am singing for. I naturally enjoy singing and languages. I enjoy being louder than other people. 

"When you are singing, you have to have two minds running at the same time: one focused on your technique and one focused on your performance. More than anything, enjoy what you are doing; if you don't enjoy it your audience is going to feel exactly the same way."

After earning her master's degree in vocal performance, Gill will star as Maria in The Sound of Music at the Ashlawn Festival in Charlottesville, Va. 

She also hopes to join a young artist program, which is an apprenticeship program associated with a particular opera company. Gill hopes to use the young artist program as a way to get performance experience, work on a big stage and steadily climb the opera ladder. 

Gill said she hopes to one day be an international opera star, and she had some advice for younger performers. 

"People just starting out should sing as much as they can and get in front of as many people as possible," she said. 

Send comments to dcshobiz@mail.uh.edu