For young Jensen Diederich, starring as one of Vocal Point’s top singers was nothing but a dream.
Years later, the dream turned into reality, as 21-year-old Diederich was well on his way to Vocal Point fame.
“My dad would always say that he could tell when I was happy ... because I was always humming a song,” Diederich recalled about his childhood. “I was just constantly singing.”
Childhood
The youngest of five children, Holladay-native Diederich grew up a Cougar fan — loyal, strong and true — along with his family. Two of his sisters were Cougarettes, and his brother was BYU’s go-to DJ at basketball and football games.
Music plays a pivotal role in the Diederich family. Jensen’s mother graduated in musical theater from the University of Utah. Growing up, his sisters were all dancers, and everyone played the piano.
Watching his siblings contribute their musical talents to the university they loved, Diederich always knew he wanted some kind of part to play once he became a Cougar. While he did not dance like his sisters, he did love to sing, so he took a different route into the world of music.
Being the only singer and, therefore, the closest thing his family has to a black sheep, Diederich can’t quite pinpoint where his unique singing talent comes from. But he was able to recognize his deep love for it from a precocious age.
“I have always loved music since I can remember,” he said.
Diederich’s sister, Olivia Gochnour, graduated from BYU in 2013 as a public health major. Being eight years older than Diederich, Gochnour took on the role as her little brother’s “mini mom” by helping their mother put him down for naps, feeding and caring for him.
“Ever since he was little, we knew that he was something different and special,” Gochnour said. “It always felt like he was a kid that you would see in Disney Channel ... You would kind of look at him and be like, 'Wow, he’s a really good singer.'”
As he progressed through elementary, middle and high school, Diederich routinely participated in youth choirs, school plays and musicals. As a young teenager, he played Nathan in the Church’s production, “Savior of the World.”
In 2011, BYU’s a cappella group, Vocal Point, competed in NBC’s "The Sing-Off" against 15 other a cappella groups, including world-famous Pentatonix. Diederich recalls fond memories of coming home from his Boy Scout activities to his mom watching the show on TV. Diederich enjoyed joining her to watch.
“My mom would tell me, ‘The girls dance at BYU, and because you like to sing, maybe that Vocal Point thing is something you could do once you get there,’” Diederich recalled. “There’s those times engrained in my memory.”
As Vocal Point gained more and more fame on the world’s stage, Diederich watched every music video they released.
From the ages of about 15-17, Diederich attended BYU’s youth summer camp, Remix Vocal Academy. The very singers Diederich loved — the members of Vocal Point and Noteworthy — led the camp, teaching the campers performance and a cappella singing skills.
“It was so cool because I got to meet these guys who were like celebrities to me,” Diedrich reflected. “They were my camp counselors for a week, which was super, super fun.”
It did not take long for Diederich to become Vocal Point’s biggest fan.
“I think all of those together kind of made it seem like, ‘Well, you know, if I go to BYU, I’d love to be on Vocal Point.’”
But BYU was not originally the plan for Diederich.
Auditions
"My parents went to the University of Utah, and I’m from Salt Lake City, and I just felt like for some reason I would just do that,” Diederich explained.
It wasn’t until he found himself serving a mission in Cusco, Peru that he began to change his mind.
“As I served my mission, I grew in love for the gospel and the values and the life the Church gives,” Diederich said. “I wanted to be around people who shared that so that I could continue strengthening my testimony. I felt like BYU was just a great fit.”
The guideline prompting missionaries to only listen to Church-approved music, which includes songs from Vocal Point and Noteworthy, was the straw that broke the U-of-U-bound camel's back. This is ultimately what lead Diederich to make his boyhood dreams a reality and head to BYU, where he would have the chance to audition for Vocal Point.
So, he applied to BYU while he was still on his mission, but he was not accepted. However, Diederich feels this aligned perfectly with God’s plan for him. Vocal Point’s Tenor I singer would be graduating the year after Diederich originally applied to attend the Y. Had Diederich attended BYU and auditioned for Vocal Point the same year he returned from his mission, his chances of getting the part would have been much slimmer.
Luckily, his post-mission year of attending BYU’s FlexGE program in Salt Lake City meant Diederich would audition for Vocal Point the following year. This opened the Tenor I position and allowed him to secure his long-awaited spot in the renowned a cappella group.
“It’s crazy to look back on that and then realize how everything worked out,” Diederich commented. “I think it just worked out perfectly how it needed to be.”
Vocal Point
Diederich is now a third-year member of BYU’s Vocal Point and plays a key role in the group.
Gochnour reflected on what it was like to hear her brother had made it onto Vocal Point. “It never really crossed our minds,” she explained. “And then when he texted us, we were like, ‘Well, of course you’re gonna do Vocal Point’ ... It just felt like such a seamless transition.”
Diederich confirmed his family’s beliefs that he was something unique.
“(It) has been so exciting for us to watch it all unfold,” Gochnour commented. “We obviously love what he’s doing on Vocal Point.”
Some of Diederich’s favorite memories from his time on the team are their performances in Cuba and the Philippines last year.
“Music is such a big part of Filipino culture, so everybody was just so energetic and loved to ... be in an atmosphere where music was being created,” Diederich said. “We had a great time with them that night.”
Vocal Point can fill up to 20 hours in one day when they perform.
“I don’t see Vocal Point as a job because I love doing it,” Diederich said.
Being a member of Vocal Point has no doubt fulfilled every part of Diederich’s dream, including its spiritual components. Vocal Point’s mission statement illustrates this point well.
To begin every rehearsal, the group recites the Vocal Point theme: “Our mission is to enlighten the hearts and minds of those within the sound of our voice unto the filling of their souls with joy.”
Diederich loves how the mission of Vocal Point keeps him and his fellow singers focused on BYU’s mission and centered on Jesus Christ. “It’s easy to get lost in the shuffle of Vocal Point,” Diederich pointed out, but their biggest efforts go into being Christ’s representatives.
"Selfless artistry" is a term the group frequently discusses, which is the idea that what artists create is not only motivated by selfless purposes, but is in the service of others.
“It’s not for greed ... or glory,” Diederich said. “It’s simply to make other people ... feel joy. And so that's something that we’ve always tried to do.”
Vocal Point tries to avoid worldly trends that foster demeaning messages or distract from the Savior and His gospel, no matter how viral hopping on the trend could make them. They feel it is better to stay true to their mission than to have more fame.
Diederich is grateful for the mission of BYU Vocal Point because it acts as a constant reminder of his personal duties as a disciple of Jesus Christ.
“It keeps me in check with my music ... I want to make sure ... that I’m also inspiring and uplifting,” Diederich said. “I told myself if I ever do music after my mission that I would try to make music that is centered around Jesus Christ ... that builds off my testimony.”
Songwriting
Diederich, a senior advertising major, has also accomplished a lot as an individual artist, and his vow to represent the Savior rings true in his own music.
In December 2021, Diederich and his friend James Burchett released “Overthinking,” which Burchett produced and Diederich wrote and sang.
Diederich also released “Afraid To Say Hello” this past summer.
The vulnerable, acoustic-style song began as an assignment in one of Diederich’s songwriting classes at BYU. It wasn’t until about a year later when he found a recording of the song in his Voice Memos app that he considered it could be something more.
With the help of his friend Jeffrey Yi, a BYU senior who Diederich met in an advertising class, Diederich fine-tuned, produced and published his song.
Yi explained the process of producing Diederich’s track. “I realized that it could sound a lot bigger, and I had a cinematic vision for it,” he said.
The process was lengthy and dynamic — both Diederich and Yi routinely thought up new ways to improve the track.
“We’re both huge procrastinators and also huge perfectionists,” Yi commented, which was one of the major contributing factors to the longer production process.
Long as the process was, it was worth the time spent. The pair enjoyed working together to create a song they both loved.
“Jensen ... is an incredible vocalist and has an intuitive zeal for music,” Yi said. “He’s really empathetic, kind and really passionate about what he does.”
Yi’s production talent and Diederich’s passion for music yielded a masterpiece. Nearly eight months later on June 7, 2024, “Afraid To Say Hello” was ready to be introduced to the world.
The song is well-loved by Diedrich’s notable fanbase, including his young nieces and nephews. Gochnour highlighted that her children ask to listen to “J’s song” every day when they get in the car.
“Afraid To Say Hello” is only the beginning of what the musical duo plans to present to the world.
Jensen Diederich found his passion and acted on it. Non-stop humming filled his early childhood; rooting for BYU Vocal Point on TV is one of his core memories. Diederich has used every experience provided to him to bolster his musical career.
From individual singles to world-renowned albums, Diederich takes advantage of the opportunities he finds at BYU to accomplish the unimaginable. His dreams are now reality because he put in the work. The product of his work points back to God, fulfilling mission of BYU and the purpose of life on earth.