Leah Podzimek
Soprano
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Please tell our readers about your career highlights so far.
Just this past [spring], my high school choir went to Minneapolis and sang in the Basilica of Saint Mary, and I had a solo in one of the pieces. It was amazing to hear my voice resonate like that. Also, last year at Fab Five, our local show choir extravaganza at the Paramount Theater, I sang a duet with one of my best guy friends in front of 2,000 people. It was so exhilarating and I felt so proud to have been chosen to sing in front of them.
What are your goals for the next five years? The next 10 years?
In the next five years I hope to get my undergraduate degree at Wartburg College in vocal performance and music therapy, then start graduate school at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor in either vocal performance, musical theatre, or pedagogy. Within 10 years I’d like to be performing shows on Broadway or in Hollywood in movies, and maybe try to kickstart my career at the Chanhassen in Minneapolis.
What do you listen to when you turn on the radio?
Oldies.
How do you handle the inevitable rejection that is part of a singer’s life?
Not to sound too clichéd, but I just have to get back on the horse and try again. Like the question says, rejection is inevitable. It’s a part of the career path that I’ve chosen.
How do you balance career and family?
Balancing my career and family is a hard part of my life, [even though] I’m still in high school. Some would say that it’s easy right now, but I’d argue that they aren’t in high school right now. I have music practices like instrumental and vocal ensembles for contests and the like in the mornings before school starts, three music classes a day, and then I go to musical rehearsal every night until at least 6 o’clock. It’s also difficult for me because my parents are divorced, and whenever I’m not home very often on one parent’s time, I feel guilty, like I’m not giving them time with me and they are getting [short-changed]. But when I do have a free moment, I spend as much time with them as possible.
Who is your favorite singer and why?
I love to listen to old jazz music, so naturally, Frank Sinatra is right on the top of my list. I also adore Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, and Carmen McRae. Their voices are beautiful in each of their own individual ways, and you can hear the pain and sorrow, or happiness and tenderness, emanating from their soul through their voice. I strive to have that much color and life in my performances.
What is your favorite techno tool you use as a singer?
I love to use my iPod, because it drowns out all other sounds of the world. I can totally immerse myself in the music I choose. It doesn’t have to be whatever is on the radio or whoever else is singing or playing. I can just be me, and listen to what I want.
Do you have a motto by which you live?
I don’t really have a motto, but I am a quotes type of person, and all of them describe who I am and who I strive to be. Here are some of my favorites:
“Without music, life would be a mistake.” —Friedrich Nietzsche
“Love all. Trust Few. Do wrong to no one.” —William Shakespeare
“I go to seek a Great Perhaps . . . ” —Francois Rabelais
