production of “Xanadu,” he knew that he had found a new passion (in addition to performing, of course). He will be pursuing his new love of Music Direction over the summer before pursuing a BFA in Musical Theatre. He hopes to continue his newfound passion for composition and arranging throughout college and afterwards. He would like to thank William Finn, Stephen Sondheim, and Ben Folds for constantly inspiring him, and his brothers, mentors, and friends for supporting him in his effort to channel that inspiration. And of course, he would like to thank his mother for putting up with his endless need to make the most noise on as many instruments as possible through every hour of the night, as well as everything else she has done (and she has done so much). Thank you so much!
DAVID VOLPINI III – Macomb, MI
Music has always been a massive part of David Volpini’s life. When he was little he would run around his house screaming the lyrics of his favorite songs and sing along to the radio in the car. Volpini started drum lessons when he was in fourth grade and joined the band in middle school. This year, he was in my school’s musical and joined the choir all whilst getting into my bands Wind Ensemble. He began writing songs on his fifteenth birthday party where he wrote his first song called, The Baby Song, which was written to soothe his friend’s fear of babies. Ever since then he’s been writing songs on my ukulele always with some kind of twist. About a year ago he began writing his musical because he wanted to expand his writing portfolio, and he already had a basic plot ready. The first song Volpini wrote for his musical was called Death Is Temporary, and shortly after that he wrote Day Number One. As the year went on, he wrote more songs for his musical and told his friends all about it and one day his friend Mimi sent him a link to the Musical Songwriting Challenge, and he knew he had to enter. He got to work on making a backing track for Day Number One and recording it and finally he submitted it. It’s been an amazing journey up to this point, and he is excited to see where this takes him in his writing career and where it takes his musical. Volpini wants to thank his friends for always listening to his songs in the early stages and for encouraging his song writing and performing. Rachel, Sydney, Mimi, and Maddie have all made this possible for him. He also wants to thank his mom and dad for letting him pursue his dreams and do what he wants, even if it doesn’t always seem like the most rational decision at first. You can find some of his comedy songs on his YouTube channel, David Volpini, and he’ll be releasing his first album soon, so be on the lookout for that as well.
