The Singing Sergeants welcomes its newest soprano Published Oct. 30, 2013 By Technical Sgt. Daniel Anderson Washington D.C. -- The Singing Sergeants' newest soprano, Technical Sgt. Hannah Rigg joined the group this past summer. Originally from Tomball, Texas, she earned her master's degree in Music from Southern Methodist University in 2012 and a Bachelor of Music from East Texas Baptist University in 2010. Rigg is known for her solid vocal technique for classical repertoire but will not hesitate to knock your socks off with some Adele. I recently sat down with Rigg to ask her a few questions about her background and how she is adjusting to life in the Air Force. Anderson: We all want to know... how was basic training? Rigg: It was...rewarding! The positive spin is I got through it and the prize was having this job. The less positive spin is that it was the hardest 8.5 weeks of a mental game that I've ever played and never want to play again. Anderson: Two years ago, did you picture yourself being the "dorm chief" of your flight in the Air Force? Rigg: Before I went into basic training, I went around telling all of my friends, "I'm going to lay low. I won't make friends and my instructor won't know my name until at least the sixth week of training." Boy was I ever wrong! By the third day in, the first dorm chief was fired after half an hour and I was her replacement. So no...two years ago, I wouldn't have seen myself in basic training let alone the dorm chief of an entire flight. Anderson: If you weren't a singer, what would you be? Rigg: A personal assistant! I love planning things, especially when it's for other people and not me. I am good at juggling many tasks at once, and the pressure to keep everything in order is challenging and fun. I actually think it has a little to do with being a control freak as well! Anderson: Do you remember a particularly impressionable "musical moment" from your childhood? Rigg: When I was in the fourth grade, I was cast as Gretl in "The Sound of Music" at the high school. The high school theatre directors in my hometown went to local elementary schools to cast the three youngest Von Trapp children. Then there were callbacks at the high school, which for a 9-year-old was highly intimidating. After my audition, I watched "The Sound of Music" every day until the results were released. One afternoon, my mom came into the TV room, where I was in the middle of watching Julie Andrews sing "My Favorite Things," and had this wonderful look on her face. She called me Gretl, and I was so excited. That kick-started my love for music, performing, and being on the stage. Anderson: Was there a specific person that lit your fire for music? Rigg: I was very fortunate growing up. The public schools I attended had some of the most wonderful musicians as their choir directors. As early as elementary school, every teacher I had lit my fire for music. If I had to choose one specific person, it would be my high school choir director, John Krystyniak. He believed in me as a musician. I would slack in preparation for All-State auditions, and he would schedule "mandatory" after school rehearsals for those of us that were going to audition. He taught me to appreciate attention to detail in preparation for a concert or performance. He made me want to become educated in music. Even as an undisciplined high school kid, he helped me love music enough to choose to study it in college. I can honestly say that were it not for him, I may have gone to school and tried to become a personal assistant. Each step I have taken from high school, through my bachelors and masters degrees, I have met so many people along the way that have pushed me and motivated me to become the lover of music that I am today. Thank God for John Krystyniak and believing in me all those years ago. Anderson: Was there ever a grade in school where you were the tall one? Rigg: No, actually. I know that's shocking to believe, seeing that I'm all of 4'11". But I pretty much grew at the same rate as everyone else. In fact, I don't believe there was a sport I didn't play, including basketball. In about the sixth grade, I quit playing sports when everyone else continued to grow and I stopped. Anderson: If you have the choice between surfing, skydiving, snorkeling or riding a race horse, what would you do? Rigg: Riding a race horse for sure! I'm a Texas girl and grew up with friends that had horses. I always loved it and wished I had lived on a huge farm as a kid. Even now, the grown up kid still wishes for the same thing! There's something so liberating about riding a horse and all of your cares washing away. Anderson: When did you discover you had a "voice?" Rigg: When I was in 4th grade, I was cast as Gretl in the high school's production of The Sound of Music. From that point on, my parents would encourage me to audition, which I did, but they never forced me into it. I did a show per year, and they were mostly plays with my middle school and junior high theater. I did one play my freshman year of high school and then began auditioning more for musicals and operettas around where I grew up. I was, however, just as serious about soccer as I was music until high school. When I was in high school, I came to a choir rehearsal with a hoarse voice from the previous night's soccer game. My choir director said, "Would Michael Jordan tell someone to take a hammer to his ankles? No. Stop yelling." I thought about what he said and began to take music more seriously. I quit soccer when I was a junior in high school and pursued music from then on. (Here is a clip of Hannah singing in 2010) Anderson: What is your favorite professional sports team? Rigg: As much as most people hate them, I love the New England Patriots. They are my team, through thick and thin. No matter how many people tried to convert me to be a Cowboys or Texans fan, I could never leave my boys. Anderson: What gives you goose-bumps? Rigg: Music. Always music. Whether it is praise and worship music, a captivating choral piece, alternative rock, or my favorite Christmas tune sung by Judy Garland, music always gives me goose-bumps. Anderson: Who is your favorite singer of all time? Rigg: That is a difficult question to answer. I love Smokie Norful because that man can do things with his voice that are inhuman. I will always love Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald, because their voices were so good at mimicking the instruments that surrounded them. Classical singers, Diana Damrau's voice is like a piano. She can do no wrong. See what I mean? There's no way to choose just one. When it comes to pop, Adele is great and I also love Gavin DeGraw and James Morrison. Anderson: Whether you spend four or twenty-four years in the Band, what would you like your foot-stamp to be when you're gone? Rigg: I would like my foot-stamp to be that I always went above and beyond what was asked or expected of me. I never want to be the one that does the bare minimum to make it through however many years I spend in the Band. I want each day to be another day of completing the mission to continually grow as a musician.