Forrest Glass is the director of RAMifications at VCU, one of two a capella groups that was formed in 2010. It is a mixed group of 16 people from majors all across the university. RAMifications is just one of many award-winning groups on campus and they are currently working on their first album.
Age: 20
Year: Junior
Hometown: Chesterfield, Virginia
Major: Voice Performance
Why did you choose VCU?
I chose VCU because the art school is so well known and prominent and out of all my options, it’s the one that felt most perfect and the music faculty is wonderful.
What your favorite place in Richmond?
I really like Belle Isle, it’s so beautiful there but I can only go when it’s warm, so honestly, it’s all the good places to eat. I wouldn’t say one specific place cause there’s a ton of places to eat.
What are your top three favorite places to eat?
I really like Mojo’s, Kuba Kuba, and I don’t know, what else is there? I like the Croakers spot, they have really good crab cakes, I think that would be my number three.
How are you involved with the VCU community?
I do a lot of things with VCU. I’m an RA at Brandt and this is my second year being an RA; last year I was an RA at Rhodes. I’m the director of RAMifications also.
What do you do as the director of RAMifications?
I am responsible for leading the group musically, making most of our decisions about where we’re going to compete and things like our album and music video that we’re working on. I pretty much just oversee everything that we do along with the president obviously. I do most of our musical arrangements and pretty much everything involving the music we make is what I’m responsible for.
What lead you to RAMifications?
Well, I’m a music major and the previous director graduated and asked me to step in as the next director and I was like sure, I’d love to. So far it’s been a tough ride and I love it. It’s a challenge for me everyday cause it’s something so different than what I do in the music department where I just do classical singing and that kind of thing and then I get to go to RAMifications and do pop music and that kind of thing.
Do you have any ideas on what you want to do after graduating?
At this point, I want to go to grad school for music. I plan to study choral conducting and voice performance to keep studying opera. My future goals are to – honestly, this is going to sound really stupid – but I want to be on children’s television like Nick Jr. or Playhouse Disney. I want to be like a TV star and teach kids how to multiply through singing. That’s my ultimate goal but until that happens I want to teach in public schools and make money in whatever way I can just doing music.
What’s the best part about being a music related major?
I think it’s getting to tell people I’m a music major because everyone’s like, “Oh my god, that’s so cool!” And I get to explain to them what I do. I sing opera and do music all day long, I get to explain the challenges of being a music major because people think you just sing and have fun all day so it’s cool to say there’s a lot more to do that because music is real craft and dedication.
How long have you been involved with music?
I’ve been singing since I was in diapers. I started singing and studying music classically in the sixth grade and I’ve been doing it ever since. At least going on for 10 years now and I continue to get better and better so it’s awesome.
What kind of music do you listen to or are currently listening to?
I’m being forced to listen to Taylor Swift’s new album, I mean it is what it is, I don’t hate it. Right now I’m listening to a lot of music from the 90s and the early 2000s. A lot of R&B and hip hop and pop music from then because a lot of the stuff on the radio right now, it’s okay but whenever I wake up in the morning or am on my way to class I’ll listen to Missy, Gwen Stefani and the old Usher, Beyonce from her early days; she use to be a star back then and she still is now but I miss the old Beyonce.
What do you like to do in your free time?
If I’m not eating or sleeping, I watch a lot of Netflix. I just started House of Cards because a lot of my friends told me to do that. I do a lot of rearranging music from RAMifications and practice music.