Artist of the Week: Olivia Samberg
Warwick Valley High School senior Olivia Samberg first became interested in music because of her siblings – a brother who plays cello and a sister who sings. Olivia fell in love with music and picked up the cello herself in elementary school. Eight years later, she is a cello section leader, a vocalist of great range, a NYSSMA and OCMEA honoree, and a four-time WVHS Grammy Awards winner. Orchestra teacher Elissa Maynard calls Olivia one of the most multi-talented students she has ever worked with.
“Olivia is an exceptional cellist and the section leader of our Chamber Orchestra. She’s also a phenomenal singer-songwriter,” said Ms. Maynard. “I truly love Olivia and her sense of humor. She’s someone who can light up the room and also command seriousness at the same time.”
Besides being a peer leader in the high school orchestra, Olivia has also been selected to regional and statewide ensembles. This year, based on her outstanding audition, she was selected to the OCMEA All-County Chorus. OCMEA also awarded Olivia with a $500 scholarship for students planning to pursue careers in music education. Earlier this year, Olivia was also selected as an alternate to the NYSSMA All-State Jazz Choir.
“I’m an alto and soprano, and I sing classical and jazz,” Olivia said. “Classical is definitely stricter, while jazz is more improvisational; you can scat and just feel the music.”
Olivia serves as president of the high school’s Jazz Choir and as vice president of the Meistersingers, who sang at Radio City Music Hall just prior to the holiday break. This spring, Olivia will be performing the role of Vivian in the WVHS Drama Club’s production of Legally Blonde.
Olivia is also a member of Ms. Maynard’s Studio Music Club, where she gets to experiment with music production and recording, skills that complement her personal songwriting. Olivia is self-taught on both guitar and piano, and loves incorporating the softer acoustic sounds those instruments offer into her own songs. She’s inspired by artists like Adele, Phoebe Bridgers and Gracie Abrams.
“The first time I heard one of Olivia’s original songs, I was floored by her talent,” said Ms. Maynard. “She plays piano and has written and released a few songs. She submitted her recordings for the WVHS Grammy Awards and won Best Female Vocalist, Song of the Year and Songwriter of the Year two years in a row.”
Olivia plans to put that OCMEA scholarship to great use, studying music education in college. Right now, she’s just waiting to hear back from the schools to which she’s applied.
“I realized that music is what I love to do, and I decided to go for it. I’d like to work toward being a professor, because I really want to work with people who love what they do,” she said. “But I have a feeling I’m going to end up falling in love with the little kids.”
Olivia encourages younger students with a passion for music to take full advantage of all the great faculty and opportunities that the Warwick Valley performing arts department has to offer, and to stay dedicated to their creative pursuits and growth.
“Stick with it,” Olivia encourages. “With music, it can be hard because not everyone believes there’s a future in it. But, it makes you really well-rounded and you will have many opportunities to make a career out of it. If you really love it, do it!”
