KELLY COMPTON

POPS LIFE Correspondent

CURRENT POSITION: Health & Benefits Innovation Specialist at Aon

LOCATION: Chicago, Illinois

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN DEGREE: Biomolecular Science with a Minor in Music

GRADUATION YEAR: 2016

ACTIVITIES AT MICHIGAN: Michigan Pops Orchestra, Pi Beta Phi, Order of Omega Honor Society, Lifeguard for the NCRB, Dance Marathon, K-Grams Pen Pal Program

MICHIGAN POPS ORCHESTRA INSTRUMENT: Violin

Listen to one of Kelly's favorite Pops classics while you read about her Pops Life!

SHE BRINGS US PROFILES OF OUR POPS FAMILY EACH MONTH, but what ABOUT KELLY'S STORY? MY CONVERSATION WITH OUR POPS Life correspondent BELOW!

WH: Kelly, tell us about some of your musical background before coming to Michigan.

KC: I started playing violin when I was three years old and piano when I was five. Growing up in Georgia, there was a huge country music scene, so before I ever trained classically I was in a small fiddle group called the “Fayette Fiddlers.” I never truly LOVED violin until I attended a two-week summer orchestra camp at Florida State University in high school. That was when I decided to really get serious about violin. I practiced almost every day during the school years, I spent the summers after my junior and senior years of high school at Interlochen Arts Camp, I played in the pit orchestra for a professional theater group in Atlanta (I was a part of the Into the Woods show!), and I even got to perform in Carnegie Hall in the 2012 Honors Performance Series. Music was my entire life!

In my academic career, I was always torn between two passions: science and music. Because pursuing music professionally was in the back of my mind, I applied mostly to colleges with strong academics AND music programs. I eventually decided to go the science route instead of becoming a professional violinist, but that mindset is what led me to Michigan all the way from Georgia. U of M has one of the best music schools in the country!

WH: What drew you to the Michigan Pops Orchestra initially?

KC: It’s funny… my mom is actually the reason that I joined Pops! I don’t know how she found out about Pops – she may have just seen a poster during our campus tour – but she was immediately smitten with the orchestra. She thought it would be perfect for me, she loved that it was student-run and for (mostly) non-music majors, and she was super excited about the fun repertoire. I applied to Michigan Early Action and therefore got my acceptance in December, and for those 4 months or so before I heard back from the other schools, my mom would make comments like “If you go to Michigan, you can join the Pops Orchestra!!” She was SOLD, and after hearing so much about it, I was too!

When I got to campus, I think I tried to schedule an audition during Welcome Week… it was my #1 priority and class hadn’t even started yet! I was so excited when I was accepted into the orchestra (probably a month or so later… I had been very overeager and auditions weren’t until several weeks into the school year…). The rest was history!

WH: Tell us about your experience with the MPO, and some of your favorite Pops memories.

KC: Pops was REALLY special, and I regret to say that I was only a member of the orchestra for about a year and a half. Once I learned that I could pick up Music as a minor, I started getting involved with groups on campus for which I would get course credits, like the Campus Symphony Orchestra and the University Philharmonia Orchestra. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to do all of that AND keep Pops in my weekly schedule.

Nevertheless, my freshman year with Pops was AWESOME. I had so much fun painting the posters to go around campus for the concerts, and the social events/parties were great. I attended a lot of Board meetings (despite not being on the Board haha) and joined “Popscapella,” the Pops a cappella group, which helped me to face my “stage fright” fear! Though above all of these activities, my #1 FAVORITE thing about the orchestra was our conductor, Elim Chan. I have all the respect in the world for Elim – she made every rehearsal challenging, yet somehow simultaneously a BLAST, and she is so uniquely talented (as shown by how successful she is now…). You can be the best musician or conductor in the world, technically-speaking, but it’s another thing completely to be able to inspire other people to be passionate. That’s what made Elim special – she made Pops shine, and I feel so lucky to have been able to work with her, not just in Pops, but also in the Campus Symphony Orchestra.

WH: How did Pops influence your career decisions? Where are you now, and what wonderful things are you doing these days?

KC: I wouldn’t say Pops directly influenced my career decisions, however it did help me to recognize the importance of having a creative outlet in my otherwise stressful college life. I’ve tried to carry this mindset with me into the professional world as well; since moving to Chicago, I have made it a priority to keep music in my life. I’m currently a member of the Chicago Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, and I’ve volunteered a handful of times at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, playing violin for patients on the Neuro unit.

As far as what I’m doing these days, I work in benefits consulting at a company called “Aon.” Basically, we work with HR departments at companies to come up with the best benefits plans for their employees (medical benefits, vacation days, corporate wellness programs, etc.). I was premed throughout my entire college career but decided instead to pursue business after graduation.

WH: What advice would you give current orchestra members interested in pursuing a similar path?

KC: You can do absolutely anything in your career, don’t limit yourself!! Are you an engineer who wakes up one day and wants to be an investment banker? YOU CAN DO THAT. Are you a communications major who suddenly wants to be a nurse instead? THERE ARE PROGRAMS FOR THAT. I see so many people get stuck in a certain field just because they feel they are not qualified for a different type of job because of their major. Maybe you aren’t qualified yet, but there is a path to ANY job and you can get there!

The easiest way to do so is network – figure out what skills people need to do their jobs, and think about how your own experiences have or have not given you those skills. You’d be surprised how many companies out there are looking for generally intelligent people who are capable of thinking critically and communicating – that skillset comes from so many majors at Michigan. So dream big and you can do anything.

WH: What does Pops mean to you personally?

KC: Pops is a well-oiled machine comprised of very close friendships. Although I never served on the Board, I got an idea of just HOW MUCH goes into running an orchestra. It’s a challenging task for professionals, much less college students. But year after year, the Board pulls it off flawlessly (or at least they appear to!), and that is really special.

Also, I think the friendships that people are able to make in Pops are so unique and unlike anything else you can find on campus. I miss my time in the orchestra but am so glad to be bonding with Pops Alums now that I’ve graduated!

KELLY'S FAVORITES

TV SHOW: I am a MASSIVE Game of Thrones fan… it is in my opinion the best thing that’s ever been on TV
BOOK: Wild and Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed, A Curious Mind by Brian Grazer
TOP PLACES ON YOUR BUCKET LIST TO VISIT: Norway, New Zealand, and Iceland!
HOBBIES: Aside from music...photography, hiking, traveling, and volunteering (I volunteer at an animal shelter in Chicago!)
POPS PIECES: "Under the Sea" (which we performed with Groove! They had calypso drums and it was AWESOME) and a medley from the movie How to Train Your Dragon
CLASS AT MICHIGAN: MCDB 436: Intro to Immunology
PERSON IN THE WHOLE WORLD TO HAVE DINNER WITH: Jung-Ho Pak (conductor of the World Youth Symphony Orchestra at Interlochen Arts Camp) or Frans Lanting (National Geographic photographer)