Growing up in State College, Danya Katok never thought she wanted to be a singer. She spent her days dancing at Ballet Theater of Central PA and pursuing violin through Central PA Youth Orchestra. Today, she is an established soprano and is involved in choral singing and musical improv, as well as many projects of her own.
“My experiences with ballet and orchestra really shaped my love for music,” she says.
She currently lives in New York City but is coming back to her hometown to perform with Pennsylvania Centre Orchestra February 14 at the orchestra’s “Music for the Heart” concert at Pasquerilla Spiritual Center. She shared with Town&Gown her passion and love not only for music but also for the State College community.
T&G: When did you live in State College, and what are some favorite memories from that time?
Katok: I lived in State College from the time that I was 5 years old to my graduation from Penn State, so 17 years! I absolutely love State College. One of my favorite memories is volunteering at Arts Fest. I got to work backstage with one of the bands performing on the Old Main lawn. That was really fun! Taking ballet classes at the Ballet Theatre of Central PA is one of my fondest memories. I absolutely loved performing in The Nutcracker every year. It took leaving and then coming back to appreciate some things about State College.
T&G: What are you looking forward to most when you come back and perform with the Pennsylvania Centre Orchestra?
Katok: I’m looking forward to performing with the professionals that I grew up with as role models, like Jim Lyon, with whom I studied violin my senior year of high school. I’m so honored
to perform professionally in my hometown!
T&G: Where do you hope for your career to take you in the next five years?
Katok: I hope to continue building my solo career, singing with orchestras and expanding my oratorio repertoire. I also hope to be regularly performing musical improv at The Magnet Theater where I currently study. I’d love to be coaching improv at that point, as well.
T&G: What does music mean to you?
Katok: Music is heightened emotion. It’s a way to express aspects of the human experience to which words alone cannot do justice. Despite being a performer, I tend to be rather shy, so singing gives me the voice that I can’t always find in ordinary life. For me, music is also tied closely with memory. Some people are sent back in time by a smell or a place, but all I need to hear is a song, and I’m transported back to the first time I heard it. I’ve read about the healing powers of music for Alzheimer’s patients, and I’ve experienced music’s powerful effect on the elderly when I’ve sung in nursing homes.
T&G: What do you enjoy most about what you do?
Katok: I love being in sync with an ensemble of musicians. I read something once about how people’s brain waves synchronize when they play music together — and I totally believe it!
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