2021 Arts Award: Annabel Hodson-Walker

by Katy Gilmore ‘24

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Annabel Hodson-Walker ‘21

Major: Marketing and Finance

Minor: Music

Tell me a little bit about yourself! Give me your elevator pitch.

My name is Annabel Hudson-Walker, and I’m a senior this year. I’m from Sherborn, Massachusetts, and I am in the Carroll School of Management with a major in Marketing and Finance and a minor in Music. I am currently the president of the University Chorale. I basically run the club and coordinate with our team of nine other officers and our conductor John Finney. I am also the social media manager for the BC Arts Council. I manage our social media strategy and campaigns mainly focusing on Instagram and Facebook. I ran all the campaigns for the Arts Fest this year as well. I started Chorale freshman year, and I’ve been working for the Arts Council for over two and a half years now.

Is there any one experience with the arts at BC that was really meaningful to you?

I come from a high school that had a very small choir so I used to only sing with fifteen to twenty people. My first month on campus I auditioned for Chorale and immediately got thrown into a group of over one hundred and fifty singers and within three weeks we were performing in front of thousands of people at Pops on the Heights. I was singing on stage with Keith Lockhart, John Williams, and Jennifer Hudson. I remember thinking that this was the craziest thing that had ever happened to me. I think that’s probably my most exciting moment in the arts coming in freshman year and seeing the community on campus and the amazing opportunities that we have.

I also think that another moment that stands out to me was performing in Symphony Hall for John Finney’s twenty-fifth anniversary conducting the choir at BC. We were able to perform on stage in April of my freshman year. That was one of those moments in life that you’ll never forget.

Hodson-Walker performs with BC Chorale

What would you say influences your work as an artist and performer?

For Chorale and singing, I’m motivated by the ability for us to create such beautiful music and come together as one. There’s this feeling of euphoria when you sing together as such a big group. In covid times, it’s been super gratifying. I think everyone really needs music and art during this time. It’s helped me personally just as a way to release all my stress and get back to some sense of normalcy. It’s been really heartwarming to be able to sing this semester even though we’re mostly virtual.

For the Arts Council, I’m really inspired by how active the artistic community is here on campus. I think a lot of times people get caught up in the sports at BC, and the arts aren’t promoted as heavily. Seeing how artists are still able to create and pivot what they’re doing to put out content and perform during covid has been awesome.

That leads into my next question, which is how has the pandemic impacted your work in the arts?

Last year, we were about to have Arts Fest when everything got cancelled. I remember talking to Tatiana Flis and asking if we were still going to do it. So many people had worked so hard and for so long to create stuff and perfect their performances for Arts Fest. I thought it was really important that people were still given an outlet to share their work. She said that if I wanted to put on Arts Fest, I could. I took all of what we were going to do for Arts Fest and put it online in a one week period. It was definitely one of the most stressful weekends of my life. A lot of things weren’t virtual yet, so it was really cool to see how people could take everything they’d worked on and move it online. I was really appreciative of how supportive everyone on the Arts Council was. We basically ran the whole thing on our Instagram.

This year, I’ve taken what I learned from last year to give students a voice on campus to show what they do. I took that motivation and turned it into students taking over our Instagram account from dance teams to student artists to different art classes to A Capella groups. It was cool to see all the behind the scenes work.

For chorale, all of our rehearsals are now on Zoom. We do some hybrid rehearsals where we have twenty to twenty-five students singing outside and the rest on Zoom. Our conductor will either record a brief rehearsal or conduct us via Zoom. We’ve also put on one virtual concert live streamed. We usually do a “Christmas on the heights” performance, so this year we did a live-streamed “Christmas off the Heights” version. We’re having another on May 7th called “Spring Selections: Chorale and BC Symphony Orchestra Favorites.” We’re collaborating with the Symphony Orchestra, and we have over forty-five minutes of virtually recorded music that we’re going to put on our YouTube channel.

Being able to still create things during these times has been awesome.

Hodson-Walker works with Tatiana Flis and student volunteers on the 2021 Arts Festival. Photo from Caitlin Cunningham Photography

Do you have a mentor or inspiration in the arts?

One of my biggest mentors would be John Finney. He’s one of the most dedicated, amazing musicians. He’s such a good organist, and he’s so passionate about all the students here, especially this year when it would’ve been easy for us to not do anything. My motto going in as president was to not harp on the things we can’t do and instead celebrate all the things we can do. He really took that and ran with it. He’s allowed us to continue creating music and put together all these musical concerts.

My other inspiration would definitely be Tatiana. I’ve seen the Arts Council office really shift as she’s settled into her role. It used to be filled with mostly grad students, and she’s shifted it to have a lot of undergrad students. It’s really one of the most supportive offices to work in on campus. Everyone is really passionate about the arts, and we all really love what we do. She gives us so much leeway with how we want to run the office. I’ve learned a lot about collaboration and leadership and how to follow through on your ideas. I’m really appreciative of her for that.

What are your next steps after graduation? How has your time with the arts at BC influenced what you want to do next?

One thing that I’ve learned is that I want to keep the arts in my life forever. I never want to stop singing. It’s super therapeutic for me and a very easy way to make friends. After college I’m looking to find a choir to stay in to make those connections. Now that school is over, I also want to spend more time making my own music. I play guitar and write songs, and I really want to get back into doing that as a way to reflect on this year and college. 

Hodson-Walker stands with other members of BC Chorale

What advice do you have for younger students who want to get involved in the arts at BC?

I’ve actually been thinking a lot about this because my sister’s coming here next year, and I’ve been thinking about advice for her. My top piece of advice is to not come to campus feeling like you already know what you want to do and only focu on that for your four years. I think that BC’s a place (especially within our art community) where it’s super easy to experiment in a lot of different groups and figure out what you like to do. Take time during your freshman year to try a lot of new things. You don’t need to know everything from the day you walk on campus. There’s so much to learn and so many arts groups. There’s definitely a place for any type of artist here.

I would also say that personally I was very overwhelmed with schoolwork during my freshman year. You’re given so much more free time and there’s so much more on you, so it’s easy for people to forget not to just focus on their schoolwork.

I think being involved on campus (especially with arts groups) is very therapeutic and stress-relieving.

You have so many endorphins whenever you produce art. I would highly encourage that everyone has something in the arts that they’re involved in. It helps with time management by releasing stress, and it’s a great way to meet people and bond on campus.