When Emily Wu '25 sat down at the piano last summer, she wasn’t chasing a trophy or trying to impress anyone. She just had a feeling; a quiet, elusive tug of memory and emotion, and she followed it. What came out was a song. A really good one.
So good, in fact, that it earned her runner-up honours in Western University’s High School Songwriting and Composition Competition, a national recognition from the very university she hopes to attend next fall.
But this isn’t just a story about awards. This is a story about finding your voice, building trust and letting go of perfection.
“It’s an intimate piece,” Emily said. “I’ve kept the lyrics intentionally vague, it’s more about capturing a feeling than sending a specific message.” Inspired by themes of childhood and shifting perspective, the song is a lyrical, layered reflection on growing up and seeing the past through a different lens.
And while Emily didn’t share a public recording of the song, “it’s something personal, not meant for social media," it did take centre stage at a special performance earlier this year during a SMUS alumni and board event. The spotlight wasn’t on Emily, though, the voice that brought the words to life came from Grade 11 student Georgia James '26.
At the time of the project, the two didn’t know each other. Emily, searching for the perfect vocalist, was introduced to Georgia by her choir teacher.
"I came into the collaboration with a full demo, melody, lyrics, and instrumental compositions," explained Emily. "Georgia and I then brainstormed together to see how the song could fit with her voice, experimenting with vocal harmonies along the way. One surprise that came out of it was a variation of the melody that went out of the key of the song.”
That trust, that openness to imperfection and play, became the magic.
Emily’s been writing music since Grade 9, inspired by moody, poetic artists like Hozier and Cigarettes After Sex. Her process is part poetry, part production lab: start with a line or two that hits emotionally, build chords to match the vibe, then craft a melody to carry it. From there, she dives into the technical side, audio balance, mixing, reverb, mastering.
It sounds like a professional studio setup. It wasn’t.
“We had gear problems constantly,” she laughed. “Bad room acoustics, faulty cords, mismatched software drivers; there were entire sessions where nothing worked.” Still, Emily kept showing up, after school, on weekends, often alongside Georgia, often with help from choir teacher Christina Banman and Anne Schaefer in the boarding community.
The Rhodes mics and other school equipment made a big difference. So did having access to the music rooms and teachers who believed in the project when she wasn’t sure she could finish it.
Today, Emily is the head of the SMUS Songwriting Club, and she’s passionate about creating space for fellow creatives to learn, share and grow.
“Songwriting is really personal, and sometimes people compare it to professional music, which can be discouraging. That’s not the point. You just have to make something that’s true to you, something you’d want to hear on your own playlist,” she said.
Her advice for aspiring musicians?
“Find a mentor. Ignore the noise. And surround yourself with people who understand the process. That support makes all the difference.”
The Western competition connected Emily with professors and helped her envision her post-secondary future. She plans to pursue a double major in psychology and music, a blend of academic rigour and creative exploration.
“It confirmed that this is something I want to keep doing,” she said. “Not just for school, but for myself.”
And if you ask Georgia, or anyone lucky enough to hear the song live, they’d tell you: that voice; quiet, deliberate and deeply felt, is already making waves.
