Before tomorrow’s competition, WSN asked thirteen UVL competitors to answer a few questions. Best of luck to all students.

Kelly Miller
13th Street, Steinhardt senior
Major/Minor: Classical voice performance
Act: Singing “O mio babbino caro” from “La Bohème” by Puccini.
Biggest inspiration: “Prof. Mammon. [She] was my voice teacher for three years at a community college I transfered from to come here and she helped me to believe in myself and in my dreams.”
What would winning UVL mean to you: “It would be an amazing feeling and validation that opera is kind [of] cool.”
When was the first time you performed: “When I was younger … I sang at my nana’s nursing home.”
Do you get nervous when you perform: “A little [but] it’s healthy to be nervous, I think it means that you’re still passionate about what you’re doing whether that’s singing or presenting a speech or anything else.”

Shirish Sarkar from Shirish and Harry Play Music 
Hayden, CAS freshman
Major/Minor: Undecided
Act: Performing original electronic music with texture and feeling.
Biggest inspiration: “The world around me.”
What would winning UVL mean to you: “It would be a nice validation.”
When was the first time you performed: “With my own music? This is the first time.”
Do you get nervous when you perform: “Mad nervous.”
Anything else you want to add: “Thanks to everyone who comes out. I appreciate each and every one of you.”

Shuan Sim
Commuter student, CAS senior
Major/Minor: Journalism, Language and Mind
Act: GLOW-FLOW, a glow performance with glow-wands, fans and a unicycle.
What would winning UVL mean to you: “Happiness.”
When was the first time you performed: “Ever? Five years old. UVL? Freshman year…”
Do you get nervous when you perform: “Too busy performing to be nervous while performing”

Emma Davis 
Broome Street, Steinhardt sophomore
Major/Minor: Vocal performance, music theatre
Act: Singing a song about a girl who moves into a new apartment building and gets acquainted with her new neighbors, called “The Girl in 14G.”
Biggest inspiration: “I’m most inspired by other people’s passion, so whenever I see any kind of performance that’s filled with passion, it makes me want to get better at my craft. I’m sure I’ll be incredibly inspired by my peers [at UVL].”
What would winning UVL mean to you: “I transferred to NYU in the fall, so I think winning UVL would really make me feel like I am finally an equal community member here, instead of that random transfer girl.”
When was the first time you performed: “I used to do private performances of the death scene in ‘Beauty and the Beast’ when I was three for my family, but my first public show was in preschool. I was Little Red Riding Hood.”
Do you get nervous when you perform: “I get a few butterflies before a performance, but I love being on stage so much that I get more excited than nervous.”
Anything else you want to add: “I would like to dedicate my performance to all of the squirrels in Washington Square Park.”

ZnuggleZ | Benjamin Goh, Aviv Goldgeier, Noah Rauchwerk, Charlie Manoukian
University Hall, freshmen
Major/Minor: Assorted
Act: Performing a comical scene featuring a short skit and an original song.
QUOTES FROM BENJAMIN GOH
Biggest inspiration: “The beautiful women of the world.”
What would winning UVL mean to you: “It would be incredible to win while performing with a band of such close pals and with a supportive audience of friends. Also our grandmas would be very proud.”
When was the first time you performed: “Welcome Week. We jammed and had a blast doing it.”
Do you get nervous when you perform: “Performing with your close friends makes the performance much less nerve-racking and a lot more fun.”
Anything else you want to add: “If you ladies ever need men to znuggle with, we’re your guys.”

Máté Bede-Fazekas
Sama Tower in Abu Dhabi (Alumni residence hall while at Washington Square campus), NYU Abu Dhabi junior
Major/Minor: Film
Act: Playing “Rhapsody in Blue” excerpt and piano solo.
Biggest inspiration: “Music in general, but ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ was the specific piece that first made me fall in love with it, I heard it at the age of eight and it immediately made me wanna become a conductor, a dream I’ve partially given up on since.”
What would winning UVL mean to you: “I can’t say, because I can’t imagine winning. I’m just a guy from Hungary who has never even been in the States until two years ago. And now I’m performing in New York. I’m already a winner and honored and happy.”
When was the first time you performed: “I went to a music elementary school with mandatory concerts so I started at the age of seven, after all this time I’m still unspeakably nervous every time.”
Do you get nervous when you perform: “Yes, extremely nervous. It starts to show physically a couple days before the performance. At the National Hungarian Piano Solo competition I barely knew about myself, still don’t remember most of it.”

Evelyn “Evita” Haettenschwiller
Rubin, Tisch freshman
Major/Minor: Recorded music
Act: Singing an original song called “Curious,” a jazzy song, accompanied by drums, keyboard, double bass and electric guitar. There’s a small part of it written in French.
Biggest inspiration: “I love hip hop and I love jazz, and I think that the fusion of the two is simply beautiful. As a lyricist and singer, I’m mostly inspired by artists like A Tribe Called Quest, Common, Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill and D’Angelo.”
What would winning UVL mean to you: “I’m from Geneva, Switzerland and there aren’t as many opportunities for musicians back home as there are here in the States. I decided to go to school in New York because I knew I could grow here. Also, this is one of my first ventures as a solo artist and if I win UVL, I feel like it will give me the confidence to do more alone.”
When was the first time you performed: “I think the first time I performed on stage was when I was about four or five years old. It was for a small show organized by my preschool. I started to get serious about music when I was 15 and I’ve been recording and performing since.”
Do you get nervous when you perform: “I do get nervous, but it all goes away when I first get on stage. At that point there’s no turning back and the best thing to do is just bang it out and have fun. What really gets me is if I have to do more than just perform in front of a lot of people … speaking to crowds is really outside of my comfort zone.”
Anything else you want to add: “I just really want to thank my band here in New York. Nick, Yono, Thaddeus and Jamie, you guys are a godsend and I couldn’t have done this without you. Also check out my album with the Swiss hip-hop collective Cauliflower, available on iTunes.”

Raveena Aurora from Raveena and the Auroras
Greenwich Hotel, Tisch, Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, sophomore
Major/Minor: Recorded Music
Act: “Performing an original soulful, sexy folk song, accompanied by two lovely Latin dancers”
Biggest inspiration: “Dali, Buddha and Nelson Mandela”
What would winning UVL mean to you: “It would be so lovely to be validated for all the hard work my group put into this act, and an honor to be recognized amongst such great talent at NYU.”
When was the first time you performed: “I started singing when I was 10, and the first significant performance I can remember is ‘Colors of the Wind’ at the sixth grade talent show.”
Do you get nervous when you perform: “Sometimes. I’m more nervous because I’ve been really sick with a sinus infection all weekend, and I’m really hoping my voice comes back in time for the performance since the song is pretty taxing and challenging as a vocalist.”
Anything else you want to add: “You should check out our debut album that we just released on Feb. 19.”

With Snack | Matthew Dunietz, Jono Stewart, Aviv Goldgeier, Chris Roderick, Evan Lane 
Third Avenue North, Steinhardt and LSP freshmen
Major/Minor: Assorted
Act: “Five guys making music.”
QUOTES FROM MATTHEW DUNIETZ
Biggest inspiration: “The desire to abandon our animal interests and become closer to our honesty. This fosters a deep relationship with the force of creativity that operates the universe.”
What would winning UVL mean to you: “Winning UVL would bring all of our dreams of reaching a wide audience as a young energetic band closer to reach. It would also help fund our upcoming EP, ‘Snacktime,’ due out by summer 2013.”
When was the first time you performed: “The series of experiences we call existence is a performance in itself.”
Do you get nervous when you perform: “Never nervous, just hungry. Luckily we’re always With Snack.”
Anything else you want to add: “UVL has grounded us in what we truly love, music. We’ve developed a great band relationship. We are the best of friends and we truly care about making music that is both artistically inspired and thrilling to all who listen. Our aim is to change the world of popular music by making creative music that transcends genres and leaves you hungry for more.”

MILK | Rachel Daugherty, Lindsay Heatley, Nancy Monahan 
Goddard, Tisch and LSP freshmen
Major/Minor: Drama majors in the Experimental Theatre Wing
Act: “Performing two original folk/pop songs, the first written by Nancy and the second by Rachel”
QUOTES FROM RACHEL DAUGHERTY
Biggest inspiration: “We were originally united by our love for music by the Civil Wars. We performed one of their songs for the preliminary round. Other than that our music has been inspired by a random collection of bands — Crosby, Stills & Nash, Pearl Jam, the Dixie Chick.”
What would winning UVL mean to you: “When you write music, it’s hard to know if people are going to like it. Winning UVL would be the ultimate confirmation that what we’ve created is worth listening to. Other than that, we live in the smallest NYU dorm and it usually goes unnoticed. It would be really unexpected and exciting for the Goddard community.”
When was the first time you performed: “As a group, the first time we performed was the UVL preliminary round. As individuals, we’ve all been performing in some way since we were kids.”
Do you get nervous when you perform: “We all get pretty nervous before performances, the trick is channeling all that energy in the right direction, our performance.”
Anything else you want to add: “Got MILK?”

Clare Moses & Jay Gaunt
Founders, Tisch and CAS freshmen
Major/Minor: Recorded music, comparative literature
QUOTES FROM CLARE MOSES
Act: Playing an original song written by Clare, accompanied by a band, featuring Jay on harmonica. “The song has a jazzy / R&B / funk vibe … we’ve had a little fun with it.”
Biggest inspiration: “Clare’s biggest musical inspiration is Bobby McFerrin, who changed her expectations of what music should be with his album Vocabularies. Jay’s biggest musical inspiration is Jimi Hendrix, who got him into music in the first place.”
What would winning UVL mean to you: “It would be really cool to win, but we’re just happy to have the opportunity to share our music with such a large and enthusiastic audience.”
When was the first time you performed: “We have both been performing since we were very young, separately, but this will be the second time we will have performed together. It will however be the first time we’ve performed with Jake ‘dad’ Strauss and Henry ‘helicopter’ Vaughn. They’re the greatest.”
Do you get nervous when you perform: “Not usually, but also it isn’t very often that we find ourselves playing for such a big audience.”

Carly Roberg 
Gramercy Green, Steinhardt sophomore
Major/Minor: Music business
Act: Singing an original song, accompanied by musicians Dillon Treacy, Adam November and Jesse Bielenberg
Biggest inspiration: “Radiohead”
What would winning UVL mean to you: “Winning UVL would mean the world to me. Being recognized for something that you love to do always feels awesome, and it would affirm my decision in going to New York for music.”
When was the first time you performed: “I started performing vocally around six but didn’t perform my first original song until I was about 13 for my eighth grade graduation.”
Do you get nervous when you perform: “I don’t really get nervous unless I know everyone’s watching me. UVL is a huge event so I don’t feel the personal closeness that I feel when I sing for a small group. I’m so excited.”

Jacob Schmid 
Lafayette Street, Steinhardt sophomore
Major: Music technology
Act: Solo acoustic guitar and voice.

Tatiana Baez is university editor. Email her at [email protected].