“Always go out with whatever you’ve got and do the best you can,” said Tolu Adujemo, NDA junior who recently received a starred 1 for her district solo at Preble and will perform at the state solo and ensemble contest May 6 at UWGB.

Adujemo started singing and taking voice lessons at a young age. “I used to be obsessed with Beyonce and would always sing her songs. Later on I realized I really enjoyed singing, so I continued with it.”

Her first time on stage was at church when she sang for the congregation. Although she used to be very scared at the beginning, the junior has gotten used to it now and loves it.

“I just stopped caring about what others think and learned to throw myself out there, so I’ve gained a lot of confidence,” she said. “You only live once and everything you do goes down as an experience you can share later on, so try it out.”

Since then, Adujemo has kept on getting bigger and bigger roles. This year, she was the main antagonist, “Ursula,” in Notre Dame’s musical. She said that it was her favorite performance and that the whole experience was “truly magical.”

Although she is very glad she did it, she initially had mixed feelings about playing the role since “my personality was so different from the villain, so I was slightly intimidated.”

But she is very happy she has done it now because of several main reasons. First, the junior said she made many new friendships through the program and felt like it was a new big family.

Another reason why she found it very rewarding is because she qualified in the Solo/Ensemble Contest which is a music festival around Wisconsin where many talented musicians gather to showcase their talent. 

“Going to state is very significant because it shows your musical abilities were noteworthy, so you go back and perform again for new judges,” said Adujemo.

She thinks she earned this opportunity because of the confidence and emotion in her performance. “All the hours and dedication put into the production made it truly phenomenal,” she said.

Her next goal in her career is to try to get the lead protagonist role for next year’s musical, and she is working very hard to get it. The junior practices singing almost everyday, and she is ready to do anything to better her performance and singing techniques to achieve her goal.

After that, Adujemo is looking forward to pursuing a career in music. “It brings me so much joy, and it’s a huge passion of mine.”