Adviser nomination: "Tom has been a cornerstone of our program in the past two years. He sings in three choirs: Bards, A Cappella and Windfall. He leads his peers with his focus, musicianship and rock-solid bass voice."
Artist most admired: Daniel Madison, A magician.
Other fine arts activities: Advanced Placement Music Theory.
What do you enjoy about singing: "It's really hard to express your emotions, especially when you're a teenager going through a lot and trying to figure out who you are as a person and music is a very relaxing way to do it without a lot of stress of doing that."
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Tom Cole
- Grade: Senior
- Age: 17.
- Art focus: Brainerd High School choir
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Favorite type of music you like to sing: "I find myself linking alternative indie type of stuff but I'm open to all the genres."
Biggest challenge in choir: "It's really growing as a singer and trying to improve on each little detail as that can either make or break the song.
"I also play the piano, but I haven't done it very long actually. I am still learning and mostly learning it through my AP Theory class. I decided to play piano as I also play the guitar and with the guitar you are really limited to what type of genres of music you can do. The piano really broadens that ... I play a lot of music by myself."
What are you looking forward to this year in choir: "I look forward to the same stuff every year. In Barbs, I like to watch and see how this group, a bunch of ninth-graders, who have huge differences in their voices and it's awesome to see how they can improve over the year. In Windfall, there is just 11 of us and it's really interesting to see how we become closer and are a choir family. In A Cappella Choir, I have been halfway across the country with them. This is a place I know I can fit in. It's trying to find the right clique in school and I've found that here and happy with it."
How were you able to be in all three choirs: "I made it work out that way. I want to do whatever I can to become a better musician and honestly, the other elections didn't stand out for me. This is what I like to do and I'm going to do it.
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"The big thing inspiration for me in choir is Mr. (Brian) Stubbs. He is the best teacher I've ever had and he also is a close friend. I feel like I can talk to him about anything going on in my life.
Dream job: "Well, who wouldn't love to be a famous musician. It's not something I will pursue in the future, but something I definitely will do on the side and I prefer it that way. If I'm doing a job and even if I love that job, it's a lot of pressure put on it and it kind of crushes the creative freedom."
After high school plans: "I plan to attend Central Lakes College for web development and then transferring to a different college, but not sure where yet."
Favorite subject: Choir.
Favorite genre movie: Horror/thrillers.
Favorite TV show: "Friends."
Favorite book: "Fahrenheit 451."
Favorite song: "It changes every week, but currently it is 'American Teen' by Khalid."
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Favorite band: Panic! At The Disco.
Favorite restaurant: "Pizza. Pepperoni and green olives with hot sauce on it."
Other passions: "I'm also a magician, and I do it on the side and I find most of my inspirations through magic and through other magicians I learned from. I perform at bars and venues.
"How I got started is not the greatest story, but mine was just that I was really interested in psychology and how the human brain works. I started watched videos ... and found it very fun when you can fool someone, but also give them that emotion that is hard for an adult to feel, more like how a child would feel.
"I've done a lot of big classics tricks, like putting a girl in the box and push swords through it, I've done levitation type of stuff, such as using two folding chairs with a board across them and having a kid wrapped in a blanket lay across the board and having someone eventually remove the board."
Parents: Heather and Joseph Cole of Brainerd.
