St. Dominic has an abundance of talent walking the halls, anywhere from athletes, to academics, to band to singers. However, on a larger scale, three of our students have been able to follow their dreams of singing professionally!

Elise Newman

Junior Elise Newman started singing as a hobby on YouTube over quarantine, and she’s been writing music for about nine months now. Newman just recently went and recorded one of her songs at ShockCity Studios in St. Louis! The song she recorded was her first one she ever wrote, titled Extraordinary.

“To me it means that I don’t know what the future holds, but I know it’s going to be something great,” Newman said.

Her biggest inspiration is Taylor Swift, because she is an insanely talented songwriter and her favorite singer. If things go as planned, her song will be released on music platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music! In the meantime, you can check out her songs and covers on YouTube. Her channel is “Elise Newman.”

Melaina Laurent

Junior Melaina Laurent never saw herself singing for a career until a year ago. Singing has always been something she’s kept very close to her, but it can be hard to see as a lifelong goal at times.

“I never thought I could pursue it as a career and people would like it. But after I signed with my record deal and started recording, I knew that it is what I wanted to do with my life,” said Laurent.

Her singing career started last January when she was in LA for modeling and acting. She entered a singing competition for fun, and it did not go well. She had music labels telling her how the karaoke music out did her, and how she was too stiff. They all said this would not be the path for her because she didn’t have anything special—and boy were they wrong!

“The next day, I went to the a cappella performance for fun, and after I sang, they all said how I was a different singer without a back track. My now-producer followed me out of the room and met my parents and told them how he wanted to work with me, and he thought he heard something in me,” Laurent said.

Her first song produced is called Shape Of Me, and it is streaming on all music platforms. However, that’s only the beginning! Although she is not allowed to say exactly, she says to keep your eye out for more songs, videos and interviews.

Charlie Wehde

Charlie Wehde is a senior at St. Dominic, and he was born for the stage! Wehde sings at local bars, restaurants and parties.

“It’s really fun, and really good money as well, so I hope COVID goes away soon so i can get fully back to that,” Wehde said.

Wehde was in a nation-wide musical theatre singing competition called BroadwayWorlds Next On Stage, where he ended up in the top five! He was also nominated by the St. Louis High School Musical Theatre Awards and BroadwayWorld Saint Louis for “Best Actor” in a musical.

Wehde is going to college for musical theatre or straight acting, and he would love to put out his original stuff someday. However, he says it all depends on finding the right collaborators and having more confidence in his writing to really put out something great.

“I’m still in the audition process, but I have callbacks for some pretty great schools, like Carnegie Mellon and Boston Conservatory. I perform because I love to, but a little bit of recognition like that has done a lot to improve my self esteem and consistencies in myself, which has always been a struggle for me,” Wehde said.

Overall, we have some incredibly talented teens at St. Dominic! Make sure you give them lots of support and tell them to break a leg on their upcoming musical projects.