Miss America Laura Kaeppeler is headed back to Carthage. She will perform a homecoming concert at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 15, in A. F. Siebert Chapel.

Photo courtesy of the Miss America organization

Miss Kaeppeler graduated from Carthage in 2010 with a major in music, emphasis in vocal performance.

The concert at Carthage will be free and open to the public. Admission will be on a first-come, first-served basis. Doors to the chapel open at 6 p.m.

Concert-goers are invited to park in any lot on campus. Carthage shuttles will be available to transport guests to and from Siebert Chapel.

Miss Kaeppeler will perform vocal solos with the Carthage Wind Orchestra and the Carthage Choir; and will reprise her operatic performance of "Il Bacio" (The Kiss) she sang during the Miss America finals, accompanied by Gregory Berg, assistant professor of music at Carthage, on the piano. The Wind Orchestra and Carthage Choir will also perform.

The College recently caught up with Miss Kaeppeler to discuss her time at Carthage.

"I loved going to Carthage, for a lot of different reasons," she said during a phone interview from California. "I knew right away as a freshman that I was going to study music, so I dove into the Music Department really young and I was just encompassed with this very large family that I had throughout the course of those four years.

"Some of my voice teachers — Amy Haines and Greg Berg, Corinne Ness and Peter Dennee — they're people I talk with to this day. They've become mentors and friends, and much more than just teachers. ... There’s really something to be said for the small college atmosphere at Carthage. You really do leave feeling like you have a second family."

Miss Kaeppeler shared that her time at Carthage helped her grow as a performer, especially when it came to performing on stage.

"For me, I'll sing all day, but what I struggled with, and what was out of my comfort zone, was performing on stage," she said. The trust she had in her instructors was crucial, she added. "That encouragement, that acceptance of failing, is really something you can struggle with as a performer. But knowing that if you fail, you'll have those instructors and people you trust behind you to pick you up and say, 'It's OK, we'll help you move on,' that really helps. I really had people to support and encourage me."

Read more of Miss Kaeppeler's interview.