Linguistics major Olivia Colace '25 has been granted the prestigious Watson Fellowship to immerse herself in the international choral music scene in four countries around the globe.
The Thomas J. Watson Fellowship is a one-year grant for purposeful, independent exploration outside the U.S., awarded to graduating seniors nominated by one of 41 partner institutions.
"This is such a unique opportunity to have the means to travel and actually get to work with these groups and learn from their members' perspectives. Having the time to be a professional musician for the year is an invaluable opportunity that I never thought would be a real possibility," says Colace.
Olivia will travel to South Africa, the Philippines, Italy, and the United Kingdom to sing and train with a variety of professional choirs. She will investigate not only how these groups make music but also how their history and identity inform that music-making.
See where the Watson might take you
Olivia's idea for this project has been in the works for a long time. As a musician herself, she has long been interested in exploring choral music internationally and how others approach music-making. Indeed, her linguistics thesis discovered the true acoustic meanings of language used in choral vowel training and how they help musicians create sound and craft tone.
Though Olivia eventually plans to attend medical school, she has always been interested in taking a gap year before diving in. It's for that reason the Watson stood out to her as such an impactful opportunity.
"Applying for the Watson really showed how serious I was about doing a year of music before med school and how important that was to my development, not only as a young adult but as a professional," she says. "Music is deeply spiritual to me, and I think having the time to explore that fully is going to help me provide the most meaningful, holistic care to my future patients."
During her time on campus, Olivia served as the chief of Bryn Mawr Emergency Medical Services, student manager at Wyndham, and music assistant to the Bi-College Chambers Singers, in addition to her Linguistics and Pre-Med course load.
Olivia joins a long line of Bryn Mawr alums who have turned their passions into concrete projects with the support of the Watson Fellowship. Take a look at what our previous Fellows have done on their funded explorations.
Bryn Mawr's Past Watson Fellows
