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The former Winonan graduated from Concordia College in 2002 and has been trying to get into graduate school for vocal performance for four years. She’s weathered rejection, laryngitis and self-doubt only to finally come out victorious.
Pedersen will start a two-year program in September at Baltimore’s prestigious Peabody Institute, the first music academy founded in the United States.
On Sunday, she’ll give a free vocal recital at Central Lutheran Church. The concert will include works by Strauss, Rossini, Aaron Copland, Mark Hayes and Erin Damberger, her friend and piano accompanist.
Competition to get into good vocal performance grad schools is fierce. Pedersen applied to eight schools this year and was invited to audition for seven of them.
“When you fail so much you almost go into thinking, ‘Oh well. I might fail again. Whatever,’” Pedersen said. “Giving up isn’t in my genes.”
Pedersen found out in April she’d been accepted to Peabody. She’ll focus on the interpretation of music, music theory, ear training and study specific genres and composers.
Pedersen grew up hearing her mom, Hope Anderson, sing solo soprano at the annual “Messiah Sing-in” concert each December.
“I practically had the whole ‘Messiah’ memorized by the time I was 8 or 9,” Pedersen said.
She started playing flute in fifth grade but always kept singing. Pedersen landed a scholarship to Concordia for voice.
She majored in music education at Concordia and always planned to attend graduate school for vocal performance. After graduation, she taught elementary music in Fridley, Minn., for four years.
Pedersen is glad that she didn’t get accepted the past few years to other graduate schools, and she says she never thought about giving up.
“How do you give up on something that you’ve wanted to do since you can remember? How do you become a whole person if you give up that part of yourself?”
Peabody was always her top pick. Tuition is $33,000 a year, but Pedersen is confident that it will be worth it. She plans to sing professionally or perhaps teach at the college level after finishing her two years at Peabody.
“I have to believe all this came together for a reason,” Pedersen said.
Contact Käri Knutson at kknutson@winonadailynews.com or (507) 453-3523.
