1 minute read
Calli Graver, DeShana Wooden, and Nicholas Trawick
from Aretha: Respect
Today’s show features backup singers Calli Graver, DeShana Wooden, and Nicholas Trawick. All three have deep connections to the POPS. Calli is a member of the Voices of the POPS and regularly appears during pre-concert entertainment in the Kimmel Center lobby. DeShana frequently appears as a backup singer with the POPS, notably on Independence Day.
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NICHOLAS TRAWICK Nicholas Trawick is an award-winning, accomplished vocalist and educator. Nicholas earned his Bachelors of Music in vocal performance and Masters of Art in Music Education from The University of the Arts. During his time there, Nicholas was exposed to and trained in many musical styles. Nicholas’ talents have opened multiple doors and allowed him to sing in several countries including Germany, South Africa, Australia, Chile, Malaysia, and Antarctica.
Currently Nicholas sings through the event company EBE, providing entertainment for various events in the tri-state area. When not on the stage, Nicholas can be found in the classroom, teaching music at the Delaplaine McDaniel School in Philadelphia’s Point Breeze neighborhood, the first school that was part of the POPS in Schools initiative.
He also directs and arranges for the choir at Zion Baptist Church of Philadelphia. Recordings of Nicholas’ voice can be heard on the albums Keystone State Boychoir: Live from South Africa and We Are Young by The Drakensberg Boys Choir.
Special thanks to Chase and Susan McDaniel and Nancy Miller for supporting POPS in Schools. Their support allowed the POPS to create a new music education program at McDaniel five years ago. Chase and Nancy’s great grandfather, Delaplaine McDaniel, a successful iron ore manufacturer and merchant who passed away in 1885, left the funds to build the school, which opened in 1937.
