Kelsie Villahermosa loves to sing, but what she really loves is peace of mind.
By Peter Celauro
A&E Editor
STUDENT ONE: “Who’s that girl on stage with the curly hair? I hear her singing every week.”
STUDENT TWO: “I don’t know, but she’s sure got a set of pipes!”
Such is the conversation often inspired by Kelsie Villahermosa. For many Pepperdine students, seeing the worship segment of some Wednesday morning Convocations is the only chance they get to see her sing.
Thankfully, that’s not the full extent of her musical experience. This junior music composition/vocal PETER CELAURO/A&E EDITOR performance double major has been singing and writing music for as long as she can remember … and she has no plans of stopping now.
“I can’t remember a time when I was conscious, and I wasn’t singing,” Villahermosa said. “Singing ‘The Little Mermaid’ in the bathtub was my first inspiration. I learned to sing by mimicking people, imitating my favorite singers’ voices. I still do it now sometimes for fun.”
Her expertise goes far beyond just imitation, however. After years of playing the French horn, at the age of 12 Villahermosa starting taking private lessons in classical music for voice and piano. Her father got her started.
“My dad is a conductor,” she said. “He’s the one who began teaching me music. He was like my private coach.”
Eventually, Villahermosa’s father took her to his former vocal coach to see if she should pursue further instruction. The verdict: a resounding “yes.” Meanwhile, she was singing all over the place. She sang with her church, performing in youth choruses and church productions. She sang at weddings, funerals, luncheons and anniversaries. She even sang the national anthem at a hockey game. It was right about then that she got burned out.
“There was a time where I really got tired of performing, so I said ‘no’ and stopped,” she said. “I was sick of it, I needed a break.”
That break helped her begin to make an important realization: music doesn’t have to consume her life or be a burden — it’s a gift, and to be treated as such.
“Life is really about relationships,” she said. “When our gifts (i.e. singing) start to impede on our relationships, they cease to be gifts. They’re not meant to be associated with fears, insecurities, confinements, all those things we attach to them.
“People think you have to bust your butt and go looking for a way to break into the business,” she added. “Truth of the matter is, if you sing because you love it, and you’re good at it, you’ll meet people. And if you’re not insecure about what people are going to think of your voice, you’ll enjoy yourself.”
That lesson proved itself true one day when Villahermosa was working at Starbucks. Noticing a man who had a guitar, she asked him if he knew any James Taylor songs. He did, and before long they were sharing in an impromptu rendition of “Steamroller” outside the coffee shop.
“The guy next to him said he owned a studio would like me to give him a call. Soon after, he gave me a job.”
Now Villahermosa works for that man, Terence Davis, at “Great Music,” a small studio off Heathercliff Road. Though it’s not exactly a Sony-sized company, she said she enjoys a wide range of singing jobs in it, from toy jingles to Halloween witch-voice roles to vocal parts in movies.
“It’s quirky, it’s always different, and the schedule is weird,” she said. “It fits me to a T.”
As if that weren’t enough, Villahermosa also has a number of singing responsibilities on campus — namely, a lead role in this year’s opera (made up of two one-act operas, Pucinni’s “Gianni Schicci” and Mennoti’s “The Old Maid and the Thief”) and singing at Convocation.
She first heard the idea when her friend Corrie Zacharia, who is the student Convocation chair, called her up and asked her to do it.
“I thought the idea of four people doing five minutes of supposed worship in front of an audience was preposterous. I find myself really uncomfortable doing the worship thing in front of a big group of people. It’s like flashing your spiritual undies.”
But sometime during her talk with Zaccariah, Villahermosa had a change of heart.
“I’m doing it out of obedience, out of service. It’s an honor, and watching it change, feeling the mood of Convo change, is a humbling thing as well.”
Besides making her worship experience fulfilling, Villahermosa said her faith in God is also an important part of her life and one reason she loves Pepperdine as much as she does.
“Here at Pepperdine, you can make friends who really validate you, who are willing to get real in their faith. Sometimes you can find negative things and negative people, but there are free, directed, talented people as well. It’s just a matter of asking, what are you looking for?”
October 23, 2003