Yearlong Audition: Kate Rancka keeps busy with singing

Samantha Foster
Spectrum Editor

Between her jobs, school and personal projects, voice major Kate Rancka spends most of her time singing.

Over winter break, Rancka and her friend Jessie Dunnavant won a record contest with Songwire Studios, which has given them the opportunity to record in a studio and create an album.

Although they will not be recording in the studio until the last week in May and their album will not be released until August, Rancka and Dunnavant have been working on the songs they plan to record and ironing out the smaller details of the album, like finding a company to print the album and purchase the CD cases, which Rancka said she believes are often overlooked.

“You kind of know all the stuff going into it, but you don’t really know how much work it is to try to put it all together in a finished package,” Rancka said. “You know that all this stuff has to happen, but then it’s the actual act of finding someone and getting a good price for it.”

Despite work on the album taking up most of her time, Rancka has also been singing as a member of the chorus for the VCU performance of the opera “The Magic Flute.” The opera will be performed at the end of April, but Rancka has already started the staged rehearsals for her part in the chorus.

Rancka auditioned for the part during the first week of school in August, which she said has both positive and negative effects. Although teachers have seen the student’s work progress over the course of the first semester, it’s possible that a singer’s voice can change during the time between the audition and casting. The audition also remains valid for the opera scenes in the fall, which are small pieces of operas performed by students.

“Because it was the first week of school, I didn’t know about it, so I just thought ‘Oh, whatever,’” Rancka said of her audition in the fall. “It’s a semester of experience for everyone.  The scenes are obviously easier than doing the entire production of an opera.”

Rancka is one of less than 10 freshmen who are part of “The Magic Flute,” which she believes is an accomplishment due to the small number of people from her year who are performing.

Rancka can also say that she is the only person from her year to receive a phone call from the popular TV reality and talent contest show, “The X-Factor,” earlier this month.

Rancka auditioned for the show last year, but was not chosen to be a contestant. Although Rancka admits that she knew that the show calls and encourages past people who auditioned to try again the next year, she’s unsure if this is a sign that she will get in for the next season.

“I don’t know why they called me out of all the people that auditioned, but we’ll see if I get in,” she said.

Rancka will not be able to audition in person this year for “The X-Factor,” since it would require her to miss three days of school, but will be submitting a video for their online audition. If Rancka does make it onto the show this year, she said that she will take time off from school to be part of the show.

Despite Rancka’s future projects being several weeks away, she has remained busy singing with her most recent project.  Rancka will be singing with the Commonwealth Singers and the VCU Symphony Orchestra on Thursday, March 14 during the orchestra’s spring concert.

She’ll also be traveling with the group to Canada from May 17 to 24 for their final concert of the season.

Even though Rancka spends most of her days singing, she says that it hasn’t become boring.

“I just like singing everything. Once you’re classically trained, you can sing everything else,” Rancka said. “I guess I sing opera and classical music predominantly at school, but I love jamming with Jessie and singing that kind of pop music.”