Annabelle Luebke ’14 loves her job teaching middle school chorus in Ashburn, Va., and soon plans to head back to school to get a master’s degree in music so she can bring even more expertise to the classroom.

体育买球官网 felt like home from her first visit, Luebke says, and the closeness between faculty and students made her undergraduate experience even better.

“Nina Tober, my private voice teacher, provided me with invaluable mentorship throughout my four years at 体育买球官网,” she says.

She also enjoyed having plentiful opportunities to perform, just as many as if she’d been a music performance major.

“We were held to the same musical standards that performance majors were, and had the same opportunities to perform. That is not the case at many schools, and I was thankful for the chance to sing as much as possible,” she remembers.

Teaching in a local classroom as early as her first year gave Luebke a jumpstart on her future career.

“I think that is a rare thing in undergraduate programs, and it clarified for me that this is the profession I want to pursue for the rest of my life,” she says.

Luebke recently received the 2016 Colleen Kirk Award, a national award for new and aspiring choral conductors.