Yearlong Audition: Voice major Kate Rancka wins recording contest

Michael Todd
Assistant Spectrum Editor

On a regular day during the fall semester, freshman voice major Kate Rancka stumbled across an extraordinary opportunity in the Performing Arts Center.

After using her iPhone to snap a photo of the poster details, Rancka later began to research the recording contest, hosted by Songwire Studios, that promised three eight-hour recording sessions with the ultimate goal of producing an album, a prize almost beyond dreaming for the young singer. One Facebook page and 1,500 votes later, Rancka and her friend, Jessie Dunnavant, who attends James Madison University, received word that they had won the contest, making their improbable dream a reality.

Rancka and Dunnavant spent most of winter break together planning and writing music for their upcoming album, which they titled “The Legacy.” The pair toured Songwire Studios, where they met with the recording engineers and discussed details like how many musicians they plan on recording with and whether to record all at once as a live take or to record each track individually.

The pair set recording dates for May and plan to release the album at the end of summer. Rancka and Dunnavant are currently booking musicians and photographers to take promotional photos. They are also researching locations for their album release event, which will also be at the end of summer.

Though the pair considers their sound to fit the pop music genre, they admit it is a different brand than what is on the radio. Rancka said they look toward artists like Simon and Garfunkel and Celtic Woman, among others, for inspiration.

“Since we’re both classical singers aside from this, we like to think that our classical training influences our music and the way we sing,” Rancka said. “Classy-pop music, if you will? There’s a pun there somewhere.”

While they worked out details of their album, Rancka and Dunnavant also found time to release a special “Four Days of Christmas” series on their Facebook page over break. They also covered the popular David Guetta song “Titanium.”

In mid-March, Rancka and Dunnavant will travel to South Carolina to audition for their favorite television show, “The X Factor,” a reality music competition hosted by former American Idol judge Simon Cowell. If the pair receive callbacks after the March 17-19 auditions, Rancka could miss three days of classes. However, in the event that the pair is selected to appear on the show, they intend to take a semester off in order to compete.

Rancka, who will continue to live off campus for the spring semester, is looking forward to all of her classes, as her schedule will be nearly identical to that of the fall. Her schedule leaves no room for any additional academic classes, beyond the Focused Inquiry class required of all freshmen. On top of everything else, Rancka will be performing as a chorus member in the fully staged opera “The Magic Flute,” presented by the music department later this spring.

“I’m excited in general to get back into the swing of things,” Rancka said. “A month break is just about the right time to cleanse the palate.”