Bryanna Still has always loved music. "I began my interest in music at a really young age," said Bryanna. "I grew up listening to soulful old rhythm and blues and a lot of '70s and '80s music. Having that start really inspired me to be passionate about music."
In the fall, the Dayspring Christian Academy senior will head to Edinboro University in northern Pennsylvania to begin a double major in art and music therapy, an ambitious eight-year program that will earn her a doctorate in those subject areas. Bryanna's journey to this point has not been likely, but her talents, love of art and music, and determination to succeed have helped her discover her potential and have influenced others, such as Diana Vuolo, founder/executive director of SWAN (Scaling Walls A Note at a Time), to take notice. SWAN is an after-school music program for School District of Lancaster (SDoL) students ages 6 to 18. Readers who would like to learn more about SWAN may visit http://www.swan4kids.org.
While it was not always easy for Bryanna to incorporate music into her life, she found ways to exercise her passion. "When I got the opportunity (I took) music in school," recalled Bryanna, who listed violin, viola, and recorder among her first instruments. "(When there was) anything to do with hands-on music or singing or performing (offered), I was the first to sign up," she said.
Bryanna attended Price Elementary in SDoL for kindergarten and then moved to Washington Elementary for first grade, where she started playing violin. But from third through fifth grades, Bryanna did not stay in one place for long. "I bounced around in schools. I couldn't invest myself in a music class, but I started getting instruments of my own," she recalled, noting that her neighbors on Green Street in Lancaster offered her old instruments to try or practice on.
When she was 10, Bryanna started taking violin lessons and participating in rhythm classes through SWAN. After completing a SWAN event at DoubleTree by Hilton Resort in Willow Street in 2013, Bryanna was waiting for her ride and singing along to "No One" by Alicia Keys as it played over the lobby speaker. According to Bryanna, Vuolo heard the singing and was impressed. "Diana came over and said, 'We're getting you (voice) lessons.' That's what started my singing career," said Bryanna.
Vuolo recognized Bryanna's intelligence as well as her talent, and SWAN helped to secure a scholarship for her to attend Dayspring Christian Academy in Mountville. Vuolo recalled that Bryanna's grandmother, with whom she had been living, died in 2013 shortly before Bryanna was scheduled to sing the national anthem on the pitcher's mound of the Barnstormers' home stadium. The 11-year-old bravely completed the task and six months later soloed with the Dayspring Honors Choir in front of 2,500 people at the school's Remember America Speaker Series event featuring Dr. Ben Carson.
In the summer of 2018, SWAN held a summer camp, which provided 120 hours of instruction to local children. Bryanna was looking for a productive way to spend her summer, and she became a camp volunteer, assisting the teachers. After the SWAN camp ended, the teachers she had worked with suggested she be hired as a teacher for the SWAN team, and she began leading group lessons at Price and Lafayette elementary schools. Vuolo noted that the teachers were acutely aware of Bryanna's character and skill. "Her ability to work with traumatized children and their behavioral and scholastic failures convinced me she will indeed be a great music and art therapist someday," said Vuolo.
Bryanna credits her father, Clifford Still, with helping her to develop her interest in art. Clifford was incarcerated most of Bryanna's life, and he is now deceased. "My dad would send me letters with drawings, or he would ask me to draw something and send it back. That is how I connected with my father," Bryanna recalled. "I couldn't sing to my dad, but I could draw for him, and I wanted to practice my art and get better at it. I wanted my art to be an expression of who I was and to really echo my goals in life."
Looking ahead, Vuolo believes Bryanna's past will affect her future in positive ways. "She is a woman of faith and has chosen to ... direct the pain of her life to help others," Vuolo said. "I have witnessed her tremendous successes such as the many times that she has stepped up ... front of audiences to not only perform, but to be an ambassador and spokesperson for the many children affected by parental incarceration and trauma. Her love for others fuels that bravery."
Leave a Review