Rebecca Lopez has learned early one of life's important lessons: What doesn't happen to you can be as defining as what does.
Lopez grew up loving music, and in high school she was taking classical voice lessons. Lopez decided that was what she wanted to be, a classical-music teacher.
Then she got to Brigham Young University, and when she auditioned for the classical-music program, she was not accepted into the major. "At first I didn't know what to do. But I decided to just go on getting my general requirements filled. Then I heard about the media-music major, and I realized that was perfect for me. I love singing classical music, but I also love pop and gospel and other genres. I hated to stick to just one kind."
So, she tried out for the media-music program — and she was not accepted.
She tried out again the next year. Again, "all I could do was keep working on my generals. But in March I was told I was on a waiting list, and in June they said they thought they had a spot for me."
Perhaps the struggle to get there made it all the sweeter, but "it has been so exciting," says Lopez, who is now a junior and in her second year in the program. "I've really come to understand what singing is. It's all about expressing myself. I don't sing just to sing. I sing in all different ways to express myself in all different ways and reach all different sorts of people. It has truly been the answer to my prayers."
Since then other doors have opened for Lopez, including her latest project, a CD titled "When You Believe," a bilingual disc produced by Sounds of Zion.
Lopez was born in Mexico City to a Mexican father and an American mother. Her parents have since separated, but she grew up with a cross-cultural background, speaking — and singing — both English and Spanish.
"I got to know Jessie Clark (another artist who records with Sounds of Zion)," Lopez said, "and at her wedding I think it was her dad who told me that he'd heard Janice Kapp Perry (who had recently returned from an LDS mission in Chile) was looking for artists to sing on some Spanish CDs."
She was introduced to Steve Lereud of Lakeview Studios, "and we did a demo that they gave to Janice." Before she knew it, Lopez was singing at Perry's Spanish firesides.
"Then I met Greg Hansen," she said, "and he asked me to be on a Spanish CD for young women they were doing." Other songs on other CDs followed. She also began traveling around the country to sing at musical firesides. And then the next logical step was a CD of her own.
"It blows my mind," she says with a laugh. "I didn't ever think it would really happen. It's a dream to have Greg doing arrangements for me." Her voice coach at BYU, Dave Tinney, has also helped produce the CD.
From the first moment, says Sounds of Zion's Earl Madsen, "we loved what we heard. She went to Texas for a fireside, and we went, 'Wow! She's amazing!' Then, we went on to Kentucky, and we met Rebecca, the gospel singer, and Rebecca, the mariachi singer. She can do great things vocally, but what is so great is her ability to communicate in both languages."
"Her performances were incredible," said Hansen, "and the audience reaction was phenomenal. She's this quiet little person, with 24 haloes in her suitcase. Get her on stage, and the transformation is so emotional. She has single-handedly restored my faith in the younger generation."
"I am a shy person," admits Lopez, but she credits the power of music for her ability to communicate. "I think the most important thing in singing inspirational music is a connection to the spirit of the music. If you sing without that relationship, you can't get across the message."
Lopez just seems to have a natural connection to music, says Tinney. "It's all there. She puts it into cerebral terms."
She is also very excited to be involved with this multicultural project. On the CD, 12 songs are in English and six are in Spanish. "There is such a hunger for LDS music in Spanish." And, it is a definite sign of the times, she says. "There are now more Spanish-speaking church members than English-speaking ones."
Maybe someday Lopez will go back to the idea of being a music teacher. "I love directing choirs. That's one of my favorite things." But she's also experimenting with writing and arranging music and now sees a lot of possibilities out there. "A lot of things prepared me for where I am today. I just hope to continue growing."
E-mail: carma@desnews.com