As Priscillia Omon sat in a songwriting class listening to her classmates’ breakup compositions, one piece suddenly caught her attention.
The song “Who Cares” was written by fourth-year ethnomusicology student Alan McDonnell over winter break back home in Chile. Omon, a third-year ethnomusicology student, said from the first time she heard it, she wanted to be the one to bring the song off the page.
“I wasn’t expecting Alan’s song to sound like what it did,” Omon said. “He had a track that was deeply layered, that had all these different things going on, I just couldn’t believe it.”
When she was approached by Spring Sing talent director Abby Freemire about auditioning for the event, Omon said performing with McDonnell, a Spring Sing veteran from last year, was the first idea that came into her mind.
However, putting their names forward for Spring Sing was a nerve-wracking decision for Omon and McDonnell, but one which they said they don’t regret.
“With not much preparation it was a hope and a wish, not knowing what to expect,” Omon said. “Spring Sing is unpredictable, a lot of talented people audition and don’t make it, but Alan’s a senior, he’s done it already, and it has been a privilege to make the competition.”
The pair comes from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds, but it is this dichotomy that Omon said is at the heart of their musical togetherness.
Born in Santiago, Chile, McDonnell said he learned to play guitar, drums and piano growing up, but songwriting was what he wanted to do.
“I started writing songs when I was 12 and that has always been my thing,” McDonnell said. “I did classical composition for three years out of high school in Chile, it definitely wasn’t what I wanted.”
At the top of McDonnell’s preferences was pop rather than classical music. Meeting Omon, McDonnell said, has helped enhance his music and improve his songwriting abilities.
“When I worked with Priscillia, I felt the song (‘Who Cares’) took on this deeper meaning, she took it to a completely different level,” McDonnell said. “The song improved both vocally and in terms of what it meant, I think the people at the audition for Spring Sing definitely got that too.”
Omon, born and raised in Los Angeles, said her education in music came mostly from her parents.
“Through hearing all of their musical choices as a child, that really inspired me to listen to more music and play more music,” Omon said.
All through middle and high school, Omon said she sang in numerous choirs, desperate to sing at every possible opportunity and let many varieties of music play a dominant part in her life.
“I love all types of music, all genres, and I have a deep appreciation for being able to study it,” Omon said.
McDonnell and Omon’s combined experiences have culminated in their chosen song “Who Cares,” short for “who cares what the world has to say.”
“It’s about being comfortable in a relationship where you are judged as an unmatched pair,” McDonnell said.
Its message is one which Omon believes resonates with the current political climate at UCLA.
“Whatever the pairing is, black and white, big and small, people might look at you funny but that doesn’t matter,” Omon said. “Whatever it is that you have between you is what really matters.”