Sia Parpelli

Name: Sia Parpelli

Grade: 10

Years singing: 8 years

Future job: cardiovascular surgeon

Wingspan: What inspired you to start singing?

Parpelli: ”In third grade, my teacher started a choir and I really liked it, so I continued it in fourth and fifth grade. In fifth grade, I made it into an honor choir in my district and I just continued singing over the years. At around fifth grade I also started Hindustani classical music which is something I did for three years.”

Wingspan: What is Hindustani classical music?

Parpelli: “Basically you learn a lot of Ragas and Bajras. So basically in English music, there are scales which start [with] Do. In Hindustani classical music, scales start with Sa and go to Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni Sa. Also, in English music, there is vibrato which is when you shake your voice a little bit and there is also head voice where you hit high notes and it is very breathy up there. In Hindustani classical music, you can’t do that at all; it needs to be your full-on chest voice.”

Wingspan: What are some challenges you face in Hindustani classical music?

Parpelli: “Definitely the fact you can’t go into your head voice at all. My teacher didn’t allow me to go there, so all those high notes, I had to scream at some point. Because of that, I kept on having to lower where my range was because I couldn’t reach those high notes. Also, pronunciation was also challenging as well because I don’t speak Hindi so I had to reword my brain in that way.”

Wingspan: How did Hindustani classical music help with the music you learn today in choir?

Parpelli: ”It helped me with belting which is basically when you don’t go into your head voice and you go into a mixed voice range. It helped me with that because it made me expand my voice but it also increased my breath control in a way, it helped me find that balance.”

Wingspan: What is the most challenging part about choir?

Parpelli: “Some songs have very hard pronunciations like we have to sing songs in Latin sometimes. Also sometimes, songs have really complex rhythms that are difficult to sight read, so it really depends on which song you are talking about.”

Wingspan: What is your favorite memory in choir?

Parpelli: ”My favorite memory in choir is probably when I made All-Region choir last year even though I completely messed up my sight reading piece so I was really shocked when I made it but it was a really nice experience because I got to sing with other people all over the district.”

Wingspan: Would you consider singing in the future?

Parpelli: “I’m planning to join a choir in college, maybe an acapella group but I will definitely be singing for the rest of my life, just not professionally.”