Artist Profile: Kate E. Vandermel ’25 on Her Harvard Music Journey and Performing Internationally

For singer and performer Katherine “Kate” E. Vandermel ’25, a relationship with art is a love story fueled by curiosity, deepened through discipline, and defined by an unwavering commitment to chasing inspiration.

A graduating senior at Harvard College, Vandermel has spent the last four years shaping a musical identity that defies classification. Classically trained yet endlessly exploratory, she moves effortlessly between genres — opera, jazz, pop, and even electronic music — a testament to the range and adaptability of her talent. Her talents have made their way to Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the National Opera Center, international jazz clubs, and campus festivals alike. No matter the venue, Vandermel’s musical endeavors are equal parts precision and play.

Her journey began at age 10 in a school production of “The Musical Adventures of Flat Stanley.” She smiled with a nostalgic glimmer, like someone recalling their first love, as she described her first encounter with musical performance in an interview with The Crimson.

“I was the only fourth grader who had a lead at that time and I was young for that production, and it was just like a fun experience that kind of exposed me to singing,” she said.

From that point on, Vandermel realized that singing was more than just a casual pastime reserved for the occasional theater production — it was a serious passion that she was determined to pursue. She began voice lessons, transitioning to formal training in middle school and later studying at the prestigious Juilliard School. Vandermel reflects on her time at Julliard with gratitude, accrediting the rigorous environment as a major influence in shaping her artistry.

“That was a super transformative experience just because it taught me what it means to really go from the ground up and then study something pretty intensively,” Vandermel said.

At Harvard, Vandermel has seized many opportunities to celebrate and participate in music. Upon arriving on campus, Vandermel joined the Creative Music Ensemble led by Professor Vijay Iyer and began collaborating with jazz musicians from the New England Conservatory, quickly finding herself in the process. Vandermel explained that her rapid exposure to artists from a wide range of backgrounds led her to begin experimenting with original compositions and genre fusions.

But even as she moves fluidly between genres and collaborators, Vandermel maintains a signature sound. Her musical identity remains unmistakably unique — rooted, intentional, and true.

“I do sing differently for different styles,” she said. Vandermel knows, though, that despite stylistic changes, she still maintains a sound that is unequivocally her own.

Her exposure to different styles arose from her exploration of Harvard’s musical communities with a sense of play. She described herself as being in a state of perpetual motion as she bounced between different artistic ventures.

That ethos of dynamism has brought her to stages across campus. She has performed as a lead singer in Harvard’s Battle for Yardfest and in the Harvard Jazz Combo Initiative. Her curiosity even brought her to sing national anthems before games in the Harvard Stadium.

A defining moment in Vandermel’s Harvard career was when she and fellow student Henry Wu ’25 were selected to perform at the Office for the Arts’ 50th Anniversary Celebration in a reimagined opera-turned-rock tribute for outgoing College Dean Rakesh Khurana.

“We transposed and wrote two familiar songs,” she said. “It was such a heartwarming thing where a lot of faculty came.”

She recalls this performance as being especially meaningful, ultimately resulting in Khurana shedding a tear.

“I think people are moved by art, but I think like, when it happens to you, it’s kind of like ‘Oh! That’s really cool and surprising,’” Vandermel said.

If her work at Harvard has been about expanding, her time abroad has been about finding places to experience the worlds of others through music. Vandermel has performed at venues across Europe. She often finds herself improvising with local musicians at jazz clubs late into the night.

“It’s been super exciting and really rewarding and just like doing new and different things, and like learning from and working with people from different cultures. And you’ll find that they have different things that they find more important to them, and so you just adjust accordingly,”

Connecting to other cultures has also prompted Vandermel to reflect on her own identity as a backdrop to her artistry. As a woman of Dutch and Chinese heritage, Vandermel has found ways to incorporate exploration of her Asian American heritage into her work. One example she recalls is when she participated in an AAPI-led production of “The Milk Made,” a classical operetta reimagined through an AAPI lens.

It seems that being swept up in the world of others is also where Vandermel feels most free. In moments of unfamiliar connection, she seems to find a kind of unfiltered authenticity. She describes the ease of letting go when no one carries expectations about who she should be.

“I’m more free with people I do not know at all because they don’t know anything about you and you can just be your full self,” she said.

Spontaneity also plays a central role in Vandermel’s captivating performance process. For her, performance isn’t about rigidly replicating rehearsed perfection — it’s a living, breathing exchange of energies. She thrives on the unpredictability of live music, drawing inspiration in real time from the subtle cues of a crowd.

“I feel like, in a concert setting at least, for performing, it’s very much just dependent on the energy you get from the audience, and that inspires your own energy back,” she said.

The same openness to exchange — not just with an audience, but with the world around her — seems to guide Vandermel as she prepares to graduate. Vandermel is less concerned with cementing a genre or chasing a singular path. She is more interested in staying open and perfecting the art of deepening her relationship with music.

There’s a subtle confidence in how she reflects on her journey — not as someone who’s found all the answers, but as someone who’s comfortable letting the music, and the world, keep molding her.

—Staff writer Lauren E. Mei can be reached at lauren.mei@thecrimson.com.