Photo by Andrew Brown ’18 | Keegan Kalkman ’18 sings as a cantor at the Summit opening Mass Feb. 27. Kalkman participates in many musical activities on campus and performs at many events.
By Josh Spano ’18
THE ROUNDUP
Keegan Kalkman ’18 stays involved on campus by staying after school for plays, participating in his band and the Wind Ensemble, and by having a love for both music and theatre.
Currently Kalkman plays the alto saxophone, the bassoon, and the piano both for brophy and during his free time.
Music is not the only thing Kalkman focuses on, he is also involved with numerous plays.
“I’ve participated in Xavier’s fall musical ‘Mary Poppins’, Xavier’s fall musical ‘In The Heights’, and I am currently participating in Brophy’s spring musical ‘How To Succeed In Business’.”
On top of playing instruments and participating in plays, Kalkman is also the lead singer of the band Undecided which includes fellow Brophy students Mark Raban ’18, Frank Cuoco ’18, Antonio Flores ’18, and Michael Grindey ’18.
“We mostly do covers, but we have started working on original pieces,” Kalkman said. “Currently we practice twice a month.”
Music has always been something important in Kalkman’s life, and he sees how music has different meanings for different people.
“Music is hard to define, it’s kind of liquid. It means a different thing to every person. To me, music is kind of a religious thing.”
However, at first Kalkman did not like music when he was younger but it eventually became a stress reliever as he went on with his life.
“Originally I didn’t like music because it was forced out of me as a kid… But there came a point when music became a thing I went to when I wanted to relax,” Kalkman said. “If I was stressed about a project or something happening in my life I would sit down and play an instrument and that would relax me.”
Fellow band member Frank Cuoco ’18 said he sees all of the hard work Kalkman puts into his daily life both in and out of school.
“[Kalkman is] a hard worker in his classes and his extracurricular activities,” Cuoco said.
“He is a super hard worker and has a great work ethic.”
Another band member with Kalkman, Antonio Flores ’18, also sees how music matters to Kalkman and how it makes him a better individual
“He is a very musically inclined individual and is an overall great person,” Flores said.
Flores also admits that sometimes Kalkman can be a handful, but knows that Kalkman does it to make everyone more prepared and Flores appreciates that.
“I think sometimes overall he can be a lot, but that’s what I love about him,” Flores said.
Kalkman also takes Wind Ensemble during Period Two with Mr. Leo Werner and has drawn high praise for his talents and his work ethic.
“What I think makes Keegan special is that he decides to contribute his time and his talent to a variety of different programs here at the school… He’s prepared well ahead of deadlines and performs at a superior level within the wind ensemble,” Werner said.
Kalkman is also currently one of the six band students participating in all-region and has performed in the AMEA Ensemble Festival on both the bassoon and piano.
Pending on a video submission for round two, Kalkman also has a chance to perform at all-state.
“He is an all around good representative of what we hope to be doing around here.”
Mr. Werner said.
