Catarina Tran stepped onto the podium in front of a band for the first time. Her platform shoes and the small step of the podium added a few more inches to her five-foot-stature. She did not tower over the band as many conductors do.

Tran had to remember how to conduct herself before conducting an ensemble. Nerves creep in and suddenly ears don’t work. She glances toward the professor, her glance is returned by a reassuring nod. Her baton waves, and the music begins.

It is Tran’s sixth year studying music. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in music education from Lamar University in spring 2022. In fall 2022, she enrolled at Kent State to pursue a master’s degree in conducting.

Many days on the conducting podium later, the job still comes with nerves, but it’s this practice time Tran said is invaluable.

“Another benefit of this job is just actually having an experience on the podium,” she said. “Podium time is very important.”

It’s this opportunity to conduct ensembles that drew Tran to Kent State. She grew up in Texas and stayed there for her undergraduate degree, but she was drawn to Ohio by the recommendation of her mentors in her undergraduate program.

“I didn’t want to study in Texas because Texas was very intimidating,” she said. “I felt like there was more out there than just where I was.”

She chose Kent State on a whim when she heard of an open graduate assistant position. The former graduate assistant was graduating right before she was set to start grad school, so it was an opportunity she could not pass up.

“It was all about timing, especially in fields like anything in the music field,” she said. “You had to make sure that when you come in, there would be scholarships or assistantships helping you out.”

Tran works as a graduate assistant for Kent State’s marching band, symphony band, wind ensemble, university band and pep band. She is also a teaching assistant in the conducting class. Conducting the pep band at basketball games has become her favorite duty.

“That was the most fun I’ve ever had,” she said. “It actually helps reinforce why I came here.”

Tran’s graduate assistantship requires her to work 20 hours a week. For compensation, she gets her tuition and fees covered by the university and gets paid a stipend.

Tran played flute and was a twirler in a marching band back at home in Texas. During the basketball season, there was no opportunity for her to participate.

“With the pep band back at home, you had to audition for it,” she said. “It was a huge jazz combo, so there were no flutes.”

At Kent State, the “Flasher Brass” pep band is open to anyone regardless of instrument, a philosophy Tran identifies with.

She said working with the pep band helps her to get to know people better as a player and a person.

“You actually get to see more personality in Flasher Brass,” she said.

Tran was drawn to music at a young age. It began when her brother first picked up an instrument.

“My brother was playing trumpet, and I was like, ‘I want to be like my brother,’” she said. “The only instrument I could play on was flute, so I stuck with flute.”

When it came to choosing a major, Tran started in the STEM field, but she quickly switched to music.

“My first semester of college, I was actually studying forensic chemistry – I wasn’t even a music major,” she said. “Turns out that I didn’t like chemistry the way I did in high school, so I switched out of it, and I switched to music education.”

After graduating with a degree in music education, Tran was still unsure what she wanted to do. Her passion for meeting people drew her to her dream of someday becoming a maestro of an orchestra.

“I don’t want to be a band director, and that was the hard part was trying to figure out what careers can I go into with a music education degree,” she said.

“I was first watching this symphony in Southeast Texas. I was like, ‘I want to do that.’ So I finally got into my conducting class. I struggled in my conducting class, but when I actually got to the podium, and we got to conduct our small ensembles, that was something that I couldn’t let go of.”

For now, Tran is already applying to colleges for Doctor of Musical Arts programs in conducting.

Benjamin Lorenzo, associate professor and director of bands at Kent State, said doctoral programs in conducting are very competitive and may only have three or four openings.

“The basic audition for most programs is going to involve a conducting experience, so she’ll go to a university and have to conduct that band in person,” he said. “It could be a window of 30 minutes to an hour, and in that short span of time, she’s gonna have to demonstrate all of those qualities, like listening on the podium, how she’s able to work with students and the feedback that she provides.”

Now, Tran focuses on devoting herself to learning while at Kent State.

“Because of the assistantship, it opens up a lot of opportunities for me,” she said. “It gets my foot in the door with podium time and just getting to know the students.”

Grace Springer is managing editor. Contact her at [email protected].