When sophomore Mia Kalo isn’t writing essays for school, she sits down with her guitar, letting music transform her thoughts into a flowing expression: songs. “When I write a song, if I start playing a melody on a guitar, words just start coming naturally,” Kalo said. “I write them down and then fill pieces in between.”

Lyrics have been swimming and forming into songs within Kalo’s head ever since she taught herself guitar two years ago. Since last year, Kalo has written and recorded eight original songs. Her repetoire includes songs such as “Quicksand Heart” and “Sea Glass,” as well as an innovative mash-up cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide” and Bon Iver’s “Skinny Love.”

Kalo’s talent for singing did not come naturally, instead she had to work for her voice. “I used to be very bad and nasally and then my mom signed me up for a choir and I got into it,” Kalo said. “Before that, my dad was in a band in Bulgaria and he used to teach me how to sing.”

Unlike most teenagers who keep their voices limited to showers and empty houses, Kalo shares her talent with a long list of about seventy email contacts who eagerly await her next song. “I like that she shares the talent that she has with us and its really interesting to watch her take her personal experiences and translate them into songs. I love her lyric ‘and if you feel sad promise not to cry, because it fogs up the image when I watch movies in your eyes.’ It’s really poetic and well written,” sophomore Kira Bodon-Gologorsky said.

Kalo underestimated the amount of support she would receive from her peers.“I first started sending out my music when I sent one of my songs to my friend and she sent it to some other people. At first, I was a bit mad and embarrassed, but I got really good feedback from friends and acquaintances,” Kalo said. “So then I sent them my other songs as well.”

Initially, Kalo began sending songs out one by one but then emailed the songs to her subscribers in the form of an unofficial and unnamed album. “I felt really honored that other people liked my songs because up until then I looked at my music as something only I could understand, but hearing other people say they liked my music and it was stuck in their heads made me really happy.”

Kalo originally recorded her music with a voice recorder on an iPhone voice recorder. Recently, she has begun to record with a professional microphone that she received as a present from her step-dad. “When using the iPhone, I have to be very cautious of where it is placed because of the way it absorbs sounds,” said Kalo. “My new microphone is a pretty professional recording device so I can adjust the settings on it and it has an overall better sound quality.”

Though Kalo loves singing, the origin of her passion for the performing arts began earlier in theater. She has had roles in a few plays, Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw being her most recent production at the Berkeley Repertory Theater. “Originally, I wanted to focus more on the acting spectrum of performance, because my mom signed me up for an acting class when I was eight and I fell in love with it,” Kalo said. “However, when I started writing songs I found that it was something I really loved doing. I’ve always loved poetry and singing, so being able to put those two passions together has created a great hobby for me.” For now, Kalo plans on continuing to share music with friends, but hopes to begin performing live eventually. Though Kalo’s predominant focus is on music, she still enjoys acting and is currently enrolled in the Advanced Drama class.

Whether brought by acting or singing, fame is not Kalo’s main motivation, though she sees the benefit of reaching out to others. She said her biggest ambition in life is to make an impact on others, much like the artists she looks to for inspiration. “It’s not so much the idea of being famous but really just doing what I really love to do,” Kalo said. “I admire the way the musicians I look up to touch so many people with their music and I would love to have that influence on people one day, too.”

Kalo hopes that sharing her own experiences through lyrics will calm fans on their bad days and emphasize the joy of their satisfactory ones, as listening to music has comforted her in the past. “My songs are a way of telling my own stories,” Kalo said. “Artists like Regina Spektor, Taylor Swift and Bob Dylan do the same in their work, which is why they are inspirational to me.”

Presently, Kalo is working on her biggest project yet. Incorporating her talent for song writing and passion for musical theater, Kalo, with fellow sophomore Abby Neuschatz, plans to write, direct and produce an original musical about two circus families. The plot of the musical revolves around families competing for the title of best circus in their town. “Being able to create an entire musical and put it together with my friends is a great experience,” Kalo said. “I also love musicals and to be able to put on a production in my high school years will be memorable.” Kalo began writing the musical in September with the goal of premiering it next summer in a theater that has yet to be determined. She intends for the musical to be entirely student-run and is forming a group of students interested in contributing to the production.

A version of this article first appeared in the Jan. 27, 2012 print edition of The Lowell.