There are some people out there lucky enough to have always known what they want to do with their lives. Penn Stater Sarah Holgate (sophomore-piano performance and music education) is one of those people.

"I always had the secret dream of being a pop diva," she said. "I've been singing basically all my life. As soon as I could make noises, I was singing. I was the type who would sing into her hair brush."

Last month, Holgate, a trained classical and jazz pianist, took the first step in attaining her aspirations by releasing her debut album, Welcoming the Night.

"It isn't about being a pop diva anymore," she said. "I just really love writing music and performing it. My real goal is just to write and perform all my life. I'd be perfectly content with something small and local."

Holgate's long-time friend Kristen Yarmey (junior-chemistry) said as long as she's known her, Holgate has been passionate about everything she does.

"She's talented in so many dimensions, from piano to vocals to composition," Yarmey said. "She's put her entire heart into every single song."

Holgate started playing the piano at age 7 by learning "Mack the Knife." However, she didn't merge her vocal skills with her talent on the piano until high school. Through the years, she has looked to artists such as Tori Amos, Joni Mitchell and Diana Krall as role models and inspirations.

"Harry Connick Jr. has been a big role model for me," she said. "I'd always belt out his tunes. He kind of helped me break through my shyness. I was kind of shy about singing in public, but something about those sounds made me get over it."

Night was produced by Holgate's childhood friend, Carl Shinko, on the newly formed, Kingston-based label Longfooter Productions.

Shinko said it's only a matter of time before Holgate "is going to carve a niche for herself" in the music industry.

"Sarah kind of gets categorized with people like Sarah McLachlan and Norah Jones, which is fine for now," Shinko said. "But five years from now, she'll be a flavor all unto her own. People will be comparing songwriters to her, rather than the other way around."

Holgate said her songwriting is a mix of catharsis and pointing out general themes she holds important in life.

"Writing a lot of the songs was a way of getting my emotions out," she said. "I started writing more light-hearted ones and loved it. I wrote almost every song on the album over the course of a month."

The album title is plucked from a song of the same name. Holgate said she chose the name as a homage to her favorite time of day.

"I've always really enjoyed the nighttime, when you can just think and reflect about the day," she said. "A lot of the songs [on the album] are sad, but 'Welcoming the Night' is really just a tribute to the nighttime."

Tragedy struck Holgate's life in January when her brother was killed in a snowboarding accident. She was in the middle of putting the finishing touches on her album. Instead of delaying production, Holgate, along with the help of her two sisters, wrote a song in her brother's memory in a matter of days and was able to place it at the end of the album.

Looking to the future, Holgate plans to tour the Northeast this summer and work on a new album. She hopes to one day be able to blur the lines between popular and genre-specific music.

"Everyone needs to be more open minded," she said. "The general public is too focused on what's popular, but jazz and classical musicians need to be open minded about what's popular, too. There's a place for every kind of music."

For more information on Welcoming the Night, visit Holgate's Web site at www.sarahholgate.com.