Riley Burke ’18

One of the themes of musician Riley Burke ’18’s life has been embracing the unexpected. She went through a major shift during her first year at the College, trading a passion for basketball — she’d arrived with plans to play for the Lions — for one discovered in her second semester.

“I stumbled across an a cappella audition and made it into the Clefhangers,” she says. “That was such a fundamental experience, and is probably the highlight of my time at Columbia.”

Burke’s a cappella days were the beginning of a journey that led to a master’s in film scoring from NYU; releasing a debut album of original songs, Reconfiguration (which she premiered with a show at The Cutting Room); and making a living as a musician, earning accolades in The New York Times and having her work shown at the Tribeca Festival. She celebrated that path last fall with a sold-out show in her hometown of Jupiter, Fla., where she collaborated with local performers and had a “homecoming” of sorts. Burke shared songs from her album with the people who shaped her first 18 years.

“I’ll hold on to that as a very special memory and a foundation to move forward with,” she says.

The process of writing her melodic indie-folk has evolved as Burke has grown older. Drawing on personal experiences for inspiration, she says she’s learned to let those thoughts and feelings simmer a bit to fully explore different meanings and interpretations. The resulting lyrics have a poetic quality while giving audiences a glimpse into her past. She’s even working on a musical based on the album.

“Younger Me would have rushed to the paper to figure something out, but now I can live with things a lot longer before putting them onto a page,” Burke says.

In addition to her singing-songwriting career, Burke puts her master’s to work scoring films and exploring the more technical side of music production; she also has performed around the Tri-State area as both an instrumentalist and vocalist. But regardless of the platform, the goal remains the same.

“It’s all storytelling at the end of the day, whether my own or facilitating or amplifying other people’s stories,” Burke says. “It all goes back to the heart of why I think we all exist — to share stories.”

— Emily Driehaus