Stephanie Krichena, percussion performance/instrumental music education senior, turned her athletic life into a life of music.
Krichena said she found music after giving up a different passion.
“I actually was involved in a lot of sports all my life. I have this bone disorder that I was born with, and it causes me a lot of pain and dislocations and surgeries and what not,” she said. “In January of my freshman year, I had to quit all of my sports, so I decided to join something else so I could do something. I joined band, and here we are.”
Krichena hails from Chicago, but her family moved frequently when she was young.
“I’m not originally from Oklahoma, but I went to high school here. They have a youth orchestra program here that I was a part of during high school, and it was actually held at OCU,” she said. “I really like the environment.”
Krichena participated in the Oklahoma Youth Orchestra during her teenage years, and now, she teaches at it as a percussion instructor.
In her time at OCU, Krichena has performed with the orchestra, wind ensemble, wind philharmonic, jazz band and percussion ensemble.
Krichena said her favorite work she has performed was Shostakovich No. 5 with the symphony orchestra.
Krichena was recently selected to participate in the National Music Festival, though she has not received word on if the festival will be canceled due to the coronavirus outbreak.
“This happens at the very end of May to early June, so they haven’t made any announcements yet,” she said. “All across the country, there’s a bunch of orchestrally-based music festivals. A whole bunch of people audition, and the panel decides who gets in. If you get in, you get to spend a few weeks doing masterclasses and really intensive work.”
Krichena said she has exciting plans for after graduation.
“Immediately after graduation, I would like to go to graduate school. I guess the end goal would be to become a professor of percussion, specifically at a university,” she said.
Dr. Matthew Mailman, professor of music, said Krichena represents the best of what the OCU student body has to offer.
“In over 25 years of teaching, rarely have I had a student more responsible, more thorough, or more talented than Stephanie. I worked with her as a high school student in the Oklahoma Youth Winds, so I have known her for many years,” Mailman said. “Her consistently exceptional leadership, dependability and percussion skills are what led me to select her as the 2019-2020 Martin & Mary Nan Mailman Excellence in Performance Scholarship.”
Krichena said students should be as involved as they can during their time in college.
“I would say take on any opportunities, paid or unpaid. I think by doing that, it opens a lot of gates,” she said. “I currently teach at OYO, and I’ve taught at multiple high schools and El Sistema, and I’ve performed with Painted Sky Opera Company, and I was only asked to do those things because I volunteered my time early on.”
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