On Nov. 18, 2014, senior Krystee Cross went into surgery for her vocal chords. On Nov. 18, 2015, she will perform her senior recital at 7:30 p.m. in Whitley Auditorium.
During her sophomore year, Cross, a music education major with a concentration in vocal performance, found she was having trouble producing sound and it was painful to sing — a result of cheerleading for 14 years without using proper vocal technique, which overworked her voice.
After a visit to Duke Medical Center in fall 2012, when doctors found a nodule and polyps on her vocal chords, Cross went through six weeks of intensive speech therapy. She was required to take a semester off, but the therapy allowed her to sing for another year. It looked like everything was back to normal. But in October, the pain returned, and Cross needed to go into surgery.
“They told me going into surgery that there was a 50-50 chance I’d never sing again, and I was terrified,” Cross said. “I couldn’t talk for a week after surgery — you can’t say a word. I went back a week later and they said, ‘You can talk now,’ and I just started crying because I was so happy.”
Cross has been working toward this performance since her freshman year, a requirement to complete her major.
For the recital, Cross plans to sing in five different languages and across music eras. The performance will begin with Italian from a Baroque opera by Handel, then move into a German lieder by Hugo Wolf and several songs in French, Spanish and English.
“We just always knew that we had to do more than just English in our recitals,” Cross said. “So, it’s a lot of score study and learning the translations in English and then trying to relate that to what your singing. It makes it a lot easier to know the meaning of it.”
The songs were chosen by Cross’s applied teacher Beth Carter, adjunct lecturer in music. Each fits the requirements of the recital and highlights Cross’s vocal abilities.
The last song Cross will sing is called “Lorey’s Song,” which talks about the future and of graduating — fitting in with Cross’s situation as she prepares to receive her degree.
“I chose them because they are challenging in many ways, but I felt they would display clearly what is most beautiful in Krystee’s voice,” Carter said. “I think Krystee’s voice is a lovely instrument — it is very clear, and has music in it.”
Despite her injury, Carter believes Cross got back on track with the care and guidance of Duke Voice Wellness Center as well as her determination to heal her voice. According to Carter, Cross’s vocal exercises have to be done consistently, in order to retrain the muscles.
Outside of the music education department, Cross has been involved with the University Chorale, elan and Camerata. She has also began teaching students from kindergarten to eighth grade in the Burlington area with Music in the Village, where students learn piano, music technology, choir and percussion.
“I’ve loved music my entire life,” Cross said. “I’ve been singing since the day I could talk and I had never thought of actually pursuing music until I got to high school, which is where I met my choir director, who I want to be.”
Originally, Cross was planning on pursuing musical performance, but her choir director encouraged her to consider music education as a backup because she would still be able to potentially perform in the future with an education background.
Cross, who has been surrounded by kids her entire life — both her mom and sister are preschool teachers — decided it was a better path for her.
“I really love working with kids and I love seeing the passion that kids have for music and finding the kids who really want to do it,” Cross said. “I guess seeing what my teacher saw in me, I love seeing that in my kids.”
After graduation, Cross hopes to return to her hometown in Wake County and hopefully get in a job at her old high school, where she is still in contact with her old choir director, or at least still teach in the area.
For now, she is patiently waiting for her solo performance.
“I worked really hard — we’ve all worked really hard for recitals,” Cross said. “It’s not something you can do without trying. It’s been a long time coming.”