It all started in the practice room.
Gavin Kastner, a senior musical theatre major, Aspen Postma, a senior art therapy major and Danielle Lilly, a senior music education major, share their preparations for their senior showcases and life after graduation.
“Come in!” was operatically sung from behind the door as Kastner walked into the office of Conor Angell, the department co-chair and professor of music, lyric theatre and voice.
From his freshman year, Kastner sang with Angell every week: rehearsing performance material, checking his technique through warmups and fixing problematic areas, all in an effort to become the best performer he could be, one lesson at a time.
Between four and six new songs are added to his audition book each semester, which he will pull from for his senior showcase after spring break 2026 and his recital at the beginning of May.
From the moment each vocal student goes into their first vocal lesson to graduation, Kastner said, they average 32-48 songs sung while studying at Taylor.
Performing in up to six shows a year, Taylor has given him and his fellow musical theatre students a lot of stage opportunities that larger schools could not always provide, Kastner said.
Kastner does not only work on his vocal book, but dives into monologues and roles he could play to bring to competitions and auditions. Some of these will be showcased in his senior performance in collaboration with other artists, too.
“I am excited to invite others on stage to tell a good story,” Kastner said.
BFA’s have very full schedules, Kastner said, but he has learned to never say no to himself, giving the directors the voice to say no rather than failing to put himself out there because of the box he placed himself in.
Studying musical theatre at Taylor University has taught Kastner to have tenacity and the ability to make a positive impact as well as feel personally fulfilled.
“I am a stronger human being than I gave credit for,” Kastner said. “And I have the power to do a lot more than I ever thought I could.”
As Kastner pushes to be an actor who can be rehired, he enters into spaces with what he can bring to the table while also being a positive voice, serving as a light to those around him.
Aspen Postma is a multimedia artist who works in ceramics, collage, painting and drawing.
The senior art showcase is a launching point, Postma said, where students can experiment with different art mediums and ideas they like, as well as use it as a platform for jumping off into the real world.
In late March 2026, all art majors will present their work simultaneously in individual spaces in the Metcalf Gallery with their unique themes.
Postma’s theme “Here Yet Gone” will explore finding contentment in the moment, even while one is gone in dreams and aspirations.
She always had to go somewhere to have big moments of pure wonder. Flipping things on their heads, Postma’s three projects will explore nature through smaller adventures in her own hometown.
“Having those big adventures are super awesome and exciting, and there's a time and place for them,” Postma said. “But if that's all you're driving for, if that's all you're looking forward to, if you're only living for the weekend, what's happening day to day?”
One of her projects utilizes photography to bring a sense of the moment to the viewer. Physically, the photographs will be placed behind three whimsical paintings of the Rocky Mountains, Arches National Park and Yellowstone. Since these paintings will be hung away from the wall, they will block the viewer from the full picture which will only be fully realized once the viewer shifts their perspective.
The goal is for viewers to slow down and consider the contrast between the photography and paintings, Postma said.
Her other two projects, still in the works, will feature West Michigan and her hometown, via postcards and 3D ceramics, in an effort to celebrate small things.
“I feel like the place that I've been almost my whole life is such a building block and a foundation for a lot of the things that I'm exploring in the show,” Postma said.
Postma thanks her professors for pushing her to treat her canvas like the inside of her sketchbook. Her art classes were a space for her ideas to run wild on paper, giving her the freedom to explore how she would represent herself visibly through her art.
Danielle Lilly started her Taylor music journey with one-hour lessons in Fort Wayne in a small bassoon studio in the basement of Mike Trentacosti, an adjunct music teacher.
“He is a stellar bassoonist,” Lilly said. “He worked at Fox products for like 30 years, which is a bassoon manufacturing company, so he knows what he's doing, and he has heavily encouraged me to play with more courage and tackle pieces that I did not think I'd be able to play.”
Lilly has loved music since her high school days. Even when she felt under the weather, she consistently looked forward to band class.
“[Taylor gave us] real-life experience and conducting experience,” Lilly said. “We learned how to rehearse an ensemble while also teaching them key concepts, doing both at the same time.”
She hopes to teach others the ways she has been taught so they will look forward to band class just like she did.
I might even end up as a stay-at-home mom giving bassoon lessons out of my basement, Lilly said.
