It is because of this dream that Walker has sung in choral ensembles, musicals, operas, competitions and just about every singing event she could find. Once she reached college, Walker received a degree in voice performance at Western Michigan University, followed by another degree in voice performance at the Peabody Conservatory, and now she has returned to her hometown of East Lansing to pursue her Doctor of Musical Arts, or DMA, degree at MSU.

To receive her Ph.D., Walker must complete musicology and music history courses, but she also must perform six recitals. 

Her progress toward her Ph.D. was inhibited when the pandemic hit during her first year of her Doctor of Musical Arts program. When everything was moved online, including her voice lessons and coaching, she was disheartened since performing for an audience was no longer possible. 

However, on Feb. 6, Walker will have her first performance since the pandemic. She will be singing in the “Celebration of a Beautiful Voice,” which is an annual gala put on by MSU featuring MSU voice students. The event will be in the Fairchild Theatre at 3 p.m. 

“For this performance, I'm really just looking forward to getting in front of people again,” Walker said. “I've not sung in a performance such as this one since before the pandemic, and that's been a very long time … To have basically all of that work cut off has been very, very difficult. So for this performance, I'm really just looking forward to singing in front of an audience, singing with my peers, and really trying to represent the voice department to the best of my abilities.”

Walker will be performing a solo, a duet and in the big group number at the end. Generally, she enjoys branching out in her music by singing unknown pieces, which she will be doing at this performance as well.

“I've looked at all of these recitals as opportunities to perform repertoire that people mostly wouldn't know,” Walker said. “There would be some things that people would probably know, or at least some composer names that they might recognize, but one of my big passions is unknown music and contemporary music. As much of those two things as I can put on a recital that my teacher will agree with and let me do, I always try to do that.”

Not only does she perform unknown pieces, but she actually sings in other languages. Part of her DMA involves singing in the four core languages for singing—English, French, German and Italian—and she has learned to sing in Russian. For the upcoming performance, her solo and the group number will be in Italian, and the duet will be in French. 

“I love singing in different languages because it really pushes me,” Walker said. “For certain languages, I have to really work at it … The thing that can be hard with foreign languages is sometimes you have to really actually learn the language before you can sing some of it. You can get basic things without having to learn the actual language, but learning the actual language is only going to make it that much better … Those are the more challenging aspects of the different languages, but they can also really uplift you.”

Walker explained that it is not only language and song choice that elevates her performance. To do a great performance, she must put herself in the artist’s shoes. 

“When I get up on stage, and I start a song, every song that I sing is basically also an acting piece,” Walker said. “When I'm learning the music, and working it in lessons or coaching, I have to decide, what is this piece about? Who is my character? What is my objective by the end of this piece that I'm trying to do? And then I have to add in small movements and acting things that reflect that, so that especially if the piece is in a foreign language, anybody in the audience—music or not—could get a general idea of what I'm singing about.”

Walker’s end goal is to someday perform at the Metropolitan Opera and in the professional realm. After that, she plans on teaching. 

But for now, she’s taking things one performance at a time and enjoying every experience.

“Singing has always really been a full-bodied experience,” Walker said. “It's an amazing feeling when you're up on a stage, and you sing something, and you've sung really well, and everyone is clapping or on their feet. It's just such a euphoric feeling that I've really never wanted to let go of.”