In creating the video for “Top of My School,” Katherine Xu (Canada) started out with witty, relatable lyrics and a catchy, hummable melody. But it was the addition of a few friends on Zoom and a natural setting that gave it that extra bit of magic, resulting in a first-place Best Performance win in our Song Writing Competition!
Discover her inspiration for this song, how she went about creating the video, and her musical inspirations!
Your song wittily gives voice to the pressure many students feel in regards to academic success and college admissions; what inspired you to tackle this experience in musical form?
I created this character, Bree, for a character design project in my film class last year. When writing Bree’s arc, I took a lot of my own personality traits and experiences and exaggerated them. I fell in love with her story, so I wrote this song for my final project in the class.
You not only wrote the music and lyrics, you also arranged and performed your song. How did you discover and develop these many talents?
I’ve always loved musical theatre and performing! Over quarantine, I started writing some original works to post on TikTok and YouTube. “Top of my School” is the first full-length musical theatre song I wrote. I had a lot of fun playing around with the orchestral arrangements on Logic Pro X. I’m nowhere near a professional producer, but I’m learning new features through YouTube every day!
Guest Judge Michael Lydon said, “The lighting, the music—including the fantastic piano accompaniment as well as the six-part-harmonies the classmates break into at a moment’s notice (I love that the classmates are “zooming” in too)—all contribute to make this performance dazzle.” Tell us about the process behind the video production!
This video was so much fun to put together! I filmed myself singing in my bedroom using my family’s DSLR camera. I used natural light from a window as a key light and a small video light to even out the harsh shadows. The classmate ensemble is a group of talented young musical theatre performers, most of whom I met through TikTok. I had them bring their own interpretations to the song, creating a diverse range of reactions. As for the b-roll, I recycled some old footage from the original character design project to add visual interest. I edited all the videos together with Adobe Premiere Pro.
Who are some of your biggest musical inspirations?
Many of my current musical inspirations are friends that I met through TikTok! Joshua Turchin, Daniel Mertzlufft, and Blake Rouse are a few up-and-coming musical theatre songwriters who inspire me to keep writing.
