| Musical Influences: | Tracy Bonham, Jamiroquai, Fiona Apple, Basia, Garbage |
My Love For Music: A Musical Biography
I don't know exactly when I first discovered my love for music, but I'm pretty sure I learned to sing before I learned to talk. My parents have audio cassette recordings of me singing songs like Tony Bennett's "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" before I could even pronounce my own name properly.
My father's mother was an opera singer, so of course, she had great musical influence on me. I remember when she first tried to teach me proper singing technique - it sure was frustrating! I also took lots of piano lessons as a child, but I guess the reason I never achieved my full potential as a pianist is due to the fact that instead of practicing my scales like I should have been, I was up in my room or at my best friend Melissa's house, singing along to the soundtracks of Disney's The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, or Beauty and the Beast, or watching televised Broadway musicals like Into the Woods, West Side Story, etc. How disappointed the two of us were when we arrived at the Kennedy Center to see Phantom for the first time, and the entire orchestra was in a picket line out front, demanding higher wages!
That was long ago...
After I finished elementary school in 1994, my family moved to Florida, where at Lakeland Highlands Middle School I joined the school chorus as a first soprano. I had a wonderful relationship with my teacher, Mrs. Mann, and I stayed with her for several years, as she also taught at George Jenkins High School. After 10th grade, my family moved to Orlando, where I started a part-time job at Walt Disney World as a character performer. It was around this time that I met Nancy Horak, a singer and pianist who was staying in the area for a couple months (which ended up being more than a year), performing at local restaurants, hotels, and lounges. Her daughter, Jennifer, was exactly my age, and a gifted singer and dancer. Jenn and I bonded immediately, and I frequently tagged along with her to Nancy's gigs, even performing with the two of them once or twice, just for fun.
I continued my musical career with Jenn in the Dr. Phillips High School choir, led by Ms. Meadows, another amazing director (she taught Joey Fatone of N*Sync fame, Wayne Brady, and several other popular entertainers). I maintained a "seasonal" cast member status at Disney World, and sang in the Cast Choir during the holidays for Epcot's Candlelight Processional. I was selected to be an extra in ABC's 1999 Disney Christmas Special, appearing - briefly - in scenes with Wayne Brady and the female vocal group, SHeDAISY.
During my sophomore year at the University of South Florida here in Tampa, I joined the University Singers, an auditioned group under the direction of the extremely talented, world-renowned Dr. Richard Zielinski. I remained a member of the University Singers, first as a soprano, later as an alto, through April 2003. Now that I am in my fourth year of college, in a different major area of study (I switched from Biology to Professional & Technical Writing with a minor in Environmental Science & Policy), and busy with part-time jobs, I am focusing more on academics, satisfying my musical cravings solely through False Impression, a rock band consisting of Kevin Albrecht (guitarist), Eric Gardner (bassist), my fiancé, Jarred Blackmer (drummer), and myself.
Although my foreseeable plans for the future do not involve a great deal of professional music performance, I know my love for music will never die.
