Student's Name: Sofia Perozzi

Student's Age and Grade: 13, Seventh Grade

Teacher's Name: Michael Waters

School: Del Mar Middle School
105 Avenida Miraflores
Tiburon, CA 94920

Word Count: 1437




































A Musically Intellectual Future

I still remember all of the words to the first song I ever learned. It was
"Wheels on the Bus" and I sang it with fervor every time because I loved music and
remembered every verse. Some have defined music as "organized sound" or the
"amalgamation of vocal and instrumental noises". Although each of these
definitions are in fact true, they omit the significant detail as to why people enjoy it
and are extremely passionate about this art. I find music to be the most pure,
authentic, and emotional why of expressing and exchanging thoughts, moods, and
opinions. The most invigorated I feel about music is when I have watched a
Broadway musical. Sometimes I dream about seeing my name in a playbill and
having the ability to sing with the most talented and professional cast. Ive even
envisioned myself walking across the street in New York City from the Gershwin
Theatre and underneath the words "Broadway" seeing my name appear. Regardless
of how my musical career ends up, I know I would like to have a positive and unique
influence on the musical culture of the 21st century. I would like for mainstream
music to become higher quality and more intellectual.
I have always had many interests including tennis, volleyball, piano, drama,
guitar, and clarinet, but my most coveted hobby has always been singing. As early as
I can remember, I had a keen interest in performing on stage and connecting to
others musically as I listened and watched them present a song .The most interested
I have been is when they are conveying quality talent and though provoking stories.
Although my mother was an accountant, when she was younger she played the
violin and later joined the Denver Symphony. Though she played this instrument for
quite some time, she rather enjoyed singing and continues to sing even now at our
local yacht clubs. As an audience member, I felt the true authentic cleverness of the
jazz song she was singing. This made me want to have the same experience and is
why I was attracted to it immediately.
After one of my mother's shows, another musician at the yacht club asked my
mother to be in one of his shows and sing some Broadway show tunes. My mother
replied, "I only know jazz songs off the top of my head and I don't have any show
tunes polished up enough to perform right away. Too bad you can't have a thirteen
year old in your show because my daughter knows every word to every Broadway
show." He responded, "Can she sing as well as you?" My mother said, "She can sing
even better." While he was disappointed, my mother did exchange emails with him.
The next day, she sent him a recording of a song that was originally preformed by
Barbra Streisand in the musical "Funny Girl", which I sang for an audition at the
American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. Immediately after hearing it, he
called my mother and said, "She's a show-stopper! Can she really sing in my show?"
That show was the first enticement that got me longing to perform as much and as
often as I could. The show ended with a standing ovation and many more offers to
perform again.
Barbra Streisand played Fanny Brice in the musical "Funny Girl" and
performed the song "Don't Rain My Parade", which is the same song that my mother
sent to the musician from the yacht club. She is my one of and role models and true
inspirations. Although Barbra started out her singing career in clubs in New York,

she ended up with many top ten hits on the pop charts. Eventually, she found her
way to Broadway. She is a singer-songwriter, film producer, actress, and director
and has won many awards including Academy, Grammy, Emmy, and Tony; I believe
that her singing performances are the epitome of vocal perfection. Regardless of all
she achieved, her great and unique contributions have yet to be exceeded.
Another great American musical contributor and role model of mine is Cole
Porter. He had sophisticated, witty, songs with catchy, melodic tunes. His songs
were also humorous and relatable. A gentleman who was also a performer in one of
my shows asked me if I just so happened to know any Cole Porter songs. To his
shock, I replied, "Of course I know Cole Porter songs! My next performance was a
fundraiser for the new Cole Porter Society. This performance ended up on the front
page of the Ark Newspaper. The article described, "The guest singers included 13-
year-old Sofia Perozzi of Tiburon-- who wowed the audience and drew thunderous
applause with her sure, poised interpretation of 'You're the Top'". The ability to
honor this legendary musical pioneer was a monumental experience for me.
Previous generations of composers and songwriters are extremely inspiring for me
because they created my great appreciation for true and intellectual talent. Cole
Porter's music is so brilliant that I am astonished that most people in my generation
don't know about his music even though he was so talented. He will always remain
as one of my biggest influences to being the best musician I possibly can.
Current pop singers including Colbie Caillat and Adele are also inspirational. They
both have beautiful voices and play real instruments, which make them exceedingly
talented and authentic performers. Many people in our generation have lost an
understanding of what music is supposed to exemplify because many performers
are now synthesizing their music and writing songs that are not in the least
meaningful. These songs may be catchy, but they lack the genuine and intellectual
integrity that past performers had. Colbie Caillat and Adele write meaningful songs
about their love lives and other emotional events that others can relate to. However,
they still dont have as much value or story telling that creates as much mental
stimulation as it should because they are mostly about romantic relationships.
Michael Jackson was also an aspirational performer because his songs were lively,
entertaining, and sometimes intellectual. For example, his song titled "Man in the
Mirror", explained how we should all look in the mirror and not be selfish. The video
showed scenes of underprivileged people from all over the world. While I think that
this iconic singer, who usually had songs about less significant topics, was trying to
make a valuable point. Other pop singers such as John Mayer have also written
music based on specific things that he would like people to become aware of. His
song "Waiting on the World to Change, asks its listeners to wake up and not take
the news for granted like previous generations. While these pop singers have tried
to improve the intellectual musical characteristics and have listeners consider other
options, they are few and far between all of the other hundreds of singers and
songwriters. My generation is watching and listening to music on their handheld
devices with no messages with bazaar and vague videos. Although it is great that
people have the opportunity to listen to music on their technological devices when
they have songs with no meaning whatsoever music is not being appreciated the
way it should be.

In my opinion, music should not just warm your heart, but it should fill your
soul. It should fill you with energy, inspiration, and convey other meaningful
messages. As for now, I will continue to sing to live audiences as often as I can.
Today I am even singing at my school for the talent show and I encouraged my sister
to do the same. Next week I will sing at another show at the Yacht Club. I will
continue to choose songs that are witty, colorful and have some intellectual aspect
to them. When I finish attending college, I really do hope I see my name in lights on
Broadway. I will then use my success to start a production company that teaches
others to sing and write songs with a higher quality. I will try to bring live
performances to smaller cities so that they can enjoy quality music as well. I
genuinely believe that listening to music together creates a big connection and
brings people closer together. The more people that get to hear and see good
performers, the more we can get others to ask or even demand it. Listening to good
quality music makes me happy, I am even happier when I perform it. I hope I can
inspire others to make the same choices and voila, the world will eventually have a
whole new standard for music.