While I was doing my homework this past week, I reluctantly checked my phone. However, the violent vibrations caused by Twitter (or on my mobile device, TWITTUH) were hard to ignore. The tweet read (respectively), “lindsaygingrich: can’t get over how much I love Hayley Westenra. I could listen to ‘Ave Maria’ all day! #ilovecollege.”

My sister, Lindsay (whom I failed to mention as one of my greatest musical inspirations) had just then imposed a rather curious thought in my head. Check out what happened in my subconscious: “OH DUDE! Hayley Westenra…I haven’t listened to her in forever! I wonder if I still have her on my iPod. -checks- Nope. -ceases all current affairs and goes to the iTunes Store- Dude, I love this song! And that one! -buy and buy- then, done.”

Within a mere three minutes, I had purchased two wonderfully melodic, classical songs. Hayley Westenra has one of the most gorgeous, pure voices I have ever heard … in my entire life.

When listening to ‘Ave Maria’, notice that her voice is like a crystal. The clear sound flowing from her vocal cords makes me speechless. The drop of a pen could then still fail to break the beautiful silence. The other, and more popular Westenra song that I purchased, is called ‘Dark Waltz’. Her notes and passion do not fall short. These songs make me want to blow in the soft breeze, like a silk ribbon. They make me feel light and beautiful. These feelings can only be understood while listening to these pieces. Her music has the ability to evoke movement and thoughts of whimsicality.

This gives evidence to the truth that music which is worth listening to, is not confined to a specific genre by any means. From the hardcore scene to classical, the music can be found. For more information about Hayley Westenra, her albums, and progress, you can view her website here.

-Anna Gingrich
Fidelia