Layla Bunch may only be 17 years old, but she has already accomplished more than many her age could ever dream. She attends the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Northwest D.C. as an opera singer and music theater student.

She recently returned from Europe, where she and other students performed opera in France and Italy, including at the 1,000th anniversary of Our Lady of Chartres Cathedral in France.

“While we were performing there, our voices just rang throughout the cathedral, and it was just so beautiful and so touching,” Bunch said. “While I was in Italy, we were studying at an opera school, and we were five out of six of the youngest people there.”

Bunch was one of several Duke students preparing to perform Saturday for the “Culture on the Corner” showcase, which is part of D.C.’s Art All Night festival. The showcase brings together students and alumni from the art school to perform music, visual art and spoken word.

This year’s edition features a special performance with Bunch, joined by Grammy-winning artists Headliner and Rasa Don, of the hip-hop band Arrested Development, as well as harmonica virtuoso Frédéric Yonnet.

‘Opera is the base’

“Ever since I was younger, I’ve loved performing, and I’ve loved watching performances,” Bunch said.

Her journey began in the sixth grade after a teacher asked her to sing an opera song for a good grade. The teacher then recommended that she apply to Duke.

“Opera is the base of all music, kind of like ballet is the base of all dances, and Shakespeare is the base of all theater,” Bunch said. “It’s one of the main things that you need to learn.”

While she is taking advantage of all the opportunities that Duke has helped her achieve, she still has more goals to pursue. Bunch said she still has objectives to complete unrelated to her music career.

“I really do want to go to college so I can again learn and gain new experiences, because you truly never stop learning,” she said, adding that the European trip gave her a “head start” to dorm life.

Exhibition life

Sasha Goecke, 16, loves being creative. She told WTOP that she can put together jewelry and clothing, as well as write, draw, paint and take photographs.

As part of the showcase, she created two fashion pieces that will be on display in “The Adolescent Perspective” exhibit. Goecke first created a ski mask, also known as a “Sheisty,” out of rubber bands. She also created a Met Gala-style gown made entirely of soda tabs she had been collecting since the fifth grade.

“I watched this movie about Joan of Arc, and she had chain mail on,” Goecke said. “I thought it was really interesting how the metal linked together, and I wanted to try and recreate that.”

Alum Cire Wilson discovered his love for photography while attending Duke. Now, alongside fellow Duke alumnus Locke Randall, they are the founders of photography company Elemental Studios.

The duo first created at the Anacostia Arts Center before bringing it to the Saturday event. Now, they hope to build new relationships to continue living out their artistic dreams.

“(Photography) just became a passion where I can express myself and my views through a lens,” Wilson said, who added he hopes his art will keep him connected to his D.C. roots.

“It started from being in yearbook and just doing little shoots from here and there, doing events and doing just stuff around the school,” Randall said. “But I fell in love with it, so I wanted to pursue it. I knew in my heart that I was an artist at heart.”

Meanwhile, as Arrested Development and Yonnet finish their rehearsal on Friday night, Benjamin “Benji” Rivera, 16, strokes his paintbrush up against a wall where he is making his first mural.

Generally used to paint on canvases, Rivera said his goal was to show iconic events, such as the H Street Festival, in full color.

“I typically like to do stuff like this, where it’s leading heavy more into the color, and kind of bending more like the representational and making it playful and just more childlike,” he said.

The student hopes not only to build connections through his work but to find opportunities outside the norm. Instead of one canvas that a collector could purchase, Rivera wants to create art that “everybody could appreciate it.”

“My hope is to just like reach out and touch places that don’t really necessarily get recognized or get appreciated,” Rivera said. “Just have working spaces there to just brighten it up.”

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