Max Rampley sings for love and health
The Pepperell High School senior will graduate on Saturday, and aims to pursue his love of singing as a teacher someday.
When Pepperell High School senior Max Rampley started in choir in the fifth-grade, he didn’t know its benefits would help him fight the respiratory disorder he was diagnosed with when he was 18 months old.
Rampley has cystic fibrosis,
a genetic disease that can cause mucus to collect and clog airways
in the lungs, and in turn harbors bacteria, potentially leading to lung damage or respiratory failure.
But he said that singing is a natural method to clearing mucus out of his body.
Rampley never thought his love of singing, which he describes as producing a natural high, would have a practical application, like proving useful to sustaining his health, he said.
But beyond the health benefits of his passion, Rampley also is shooting for turning singing into a career and community service following his graduation on Saturday.
Despite his participation in choir since elementary school, Rampley
said his interest in the arts went from “zero to 100” when he joined the cast of “Phantom of the Opera,” which took the stage last year as the first collective production between county high schools.
The production’s challenging musical numbers helped him train his focus on vocal performance as something he wanted to do — he also played four years in the marching band.
Rampley has gone on to form a quartet and an a cappella group. He also participated in a holiday concert last year that benefitted the Atlanta chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and his a cappella group, Off Constantly, won the Kiwanis Music Showcase in March.
But one of his greatest achievements, he said, was his selection to the All-State Chorus, which gave him the opportunity to practice and perform with some of state’s mosttalented singers in Athens earlier this year.
Rampley plans to attend Reinhardt University, with a focus on vocal performance and music education. He hopes to use what he learns there as a stepping stone to inspiring up-and-coming music students as a teacher.
“You can do what you already do and give back to the community in that way,” he said.
Pepperell’s graduation will be held at the Forum River Center at 2:30 p.m.