Lily Kramer came to Central Florida Vocal Arts during the pandemic, looking for a way to stay involved with the arts in isolation. Lily shared, “My first exposure to Central Florida Vocal Arts was a Summer Institute in 2020. They had a zoom summer camp and I was desperate for things to do. My mom saw that they were offering a virtual camp, and it was just so much fun. I learned a lot through that camp as well”
Lily’s theatrical training led her to The Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in Central Florida Vocal Art’s sold out run of “The Sound of Music ” where she played a von Trapp child. She remarked, “..when I was working on “The Sound of Music.” I just had so much time, and I just got to perfect everything in the way that I really wanted to perform it. And so it was so much fun to get to do all of that, but also getting to work in a professional environment and getting to work with so many other extremely talented kids…was really cool”
Additionally, she shared that she enjoyed traveling to the Space Coast and adjusting the show for different spaces. As a result, she enjoyed “telling people that (she) was in a traveling production.”
However, Lily’s travels will not stop with “The Sound of Music” as she has ambition to study STEM post high school.
“I’m leaning into Forensic Science, cause I think that’s really interesting and, honestly, for this next year I just wanna take theater and just do whatever I can with it. Cause I feel like it’s kind of my last ‘hurrah’, and I hope it isn’t. I hope that I have opportunities in adulthood and beyond to be able to study for a minor in music with a concentration in voice.”
Naturally, although Lily is not looking for a career in music at this time, she has felt the impact of Theater in many aspects of her life and she plans to take the lessons she’s learned onstage into the next chapter of her life.
So what has been Lily’s biggest life lesson in Theatre? Confidence!
“I was really, really shy growing up. As an elementary schooler, I was so shy I wouldn’t even raise my hand to answer a question. And once I started doing theater, and I started becoming confident talking in front of people, it really impacted me enough that now, I’ll talk without even being asked to, and I’ll raise my hand if I know the answer, and, you know, I feel a lot more confident, and if I have to speak in class and give a presentation, I’m a lot less nervous than I would have been before. And that’s a life skill that will be very useful, going forward in whatever career path I end up going with.”
Beyond confidence, Kramer says “theater is just something that is such a great release. And for me, theater is less about the art, even though I love the artistic expression of theater. For me, It’s just being able to go onstage and forget that this person said this and this person said that, I have this grade in this class, and I have this much homework. It’s almost like meditation. That’s part of the reason why I love it.”
Currently, Lily is taking a break from performing to try her hand at playwriting in Winter Park High School’s 3 day One Act Play Festival from May 16th to 18th. She says she likes the autonomy and artistic freedom that the One Act Play Festival offers students.
Moreover, last year, Lily funneled her enthusiasm into an student internship with Central Florida Vocal Arts where she participated in writing and performing an original show for Kid’s Fringe in 2023. While interning, she also devoted her hours to calling campaign donors and stuffing envelopes.
In addition to participation in the Fringe Festival and the One Act Play Festival, Lily furthers her training through private, voice lessons. Her current teacher, CFVA Education Director, Sarah Lysiak, has been busy sharing her knowledge of musical theater and offering advice for college preparations. Sarah also recently traveled to see Lily perform in a competition at Georgia State University. Prior to Studying with Sarah, she took private lessons from Arisa Sullivan whose daughter is a veteran Summer Institute young artist.
Coincidentally, Lily’s first in-person Summer Institute was “Wonderland” themed and she shared that the highlight was meeting like-minded young artists including classmate Ethan Garrepy and building a community. In addition, Lily joined CFVA for 2023’s Summer Institute “History Has Its Eyes On You.” where she had the opportunity to explore a variety of performance styles including pop and classical genres. She remarked that Summer Institute offers “a wide array of experiences and an opportunity to play with versatility in your voice.”
Furthermore, Lily has also participated in Summer Institute as one of CFVA’s valued student volunteers, making a difference in the lives of younger performers by donating her time to mentoring Summer Institute I students. In addition, she shared that the performing arts have also changed her life: “Theater in general has given me so much confidence in my abilities, both in theater and outside of it.”
According to Kramer, Summer Institute has been helpful to her due to its holistic nature. Her favorite part of Summer Institute has been working on many different facets of theater. “You have to do a singing audition and a dance audition, and it really just prepares you for what’s going to be expected of you, and then you work on your singing, you work on your acting, you work on your dancing, you learn about what goes on behind the scenes. You learn a little bit about how to write a show. You learn a little bit about costuming, and what goes into those types of decisions. And you know, you get to work with Mics and music and an accompanist and just all sorts of things. And I feel like I’ve learned different things from Summer Institute every year.”
She hopes to offer this closing message to students who are considering theater:
“There are going to be times where you’re feeling a little bit down about yourself, cause, naturally, it’s a very competitive industry, and even in middle and high school, there’s going to be times when you start to lose confidence. But, and I know it’s Corny, never give up. There’s always the light at the end of the tunnel, and somebody will understand you. And that’s the best thing about theater: finding a way to prove yourself.”
Lily Kramer is an eleventh grader at Winter Park High School who has been doing theater since she was in fifth grade and singing since seventh grade. She’s worked very closely with Central Florida Vocal Arts and has been involved in almost every program that CFVA offers.
From Summer Institute to voice lessons with the CFVA studio to a student internship to roles in mainstage productions, Lily exemplifies the success of CFVA’s artistic life cycle and is an integral part of our mission to transform our community through arts education for all and professional performances that inspire.
You can sign up for Summer Institute and join us for a Summer you’ll never forget!
SUMMER INSTITUTE I
June 10-15, 2024 for ages 7-12
9:00-2:00 PM Monday-Thursday
9:00-6:00 PM Friday | 1:00 PM-6:00 PM Saturday
SUMMER INSTITUTE II
June 17-22, 2024 for ages 13-18
9:00-3:00 PM Monday-Thursday
9:00-6:00 PM Friday | 1:00 PM-6:00 PM Saturday
Register HERE