THIS IS WHAT I'M CURRENTLY DOING:
- Singer/songwriter/performer/vocal arranger
- Recording engineer and producer with The Vocal Company
- Vocalist with Lady Jaye Music and Deep Dish A Cappella
- Official State Finalist in the 2014 Miss Illinois USA pageant
- Ambassador for the Women's A Cappella Association
- Founder/director of FReestyle a cappella at Franklin Regional Senior High School
THIS IS A SNIPPET OF MY LIFE STORY:
Playing Emily Webb in "Our Town" - May 2009.
Beloved world,
It was at the ripe age of 4 that I thrust myself upon the music world by way of my church’s annual Christmas musical (which was supposed to be for kids in kindergarten and up, but please, I wanted to sing and was not having any of that Bell Choir business). I soloed on “Happy Birthday Jesus,” my parents teared up, and a star was born (literally – I was wearing a cardboard star costume with a winky face on it).
It was through those annual church Christmas and Easter productions that I learned the basics of performing. Lesson #1: forgetting the words to a solo is probably the worst thing that can happen to anyone, ever. Lesson #2: if you want to stand out in a chorus of dozens of your eager peers, you have to do something drastic, like wear bright red stockings or put a winky face on your cardboard star costume. Lesson #3: be extraordinarily kind to your directors and fans, mostly because they’ll likely be the ones providing cookies and Kool-Aid at the post-show reception in the gym.
Since then, I've grown as an artist, and my passion to connect with humanity through music has grown into an overwhelming urgency. I not only want to talk to the world through song; I must. I’m not only ambitious and enthusiastic; I am compelled.
Throughout high school, I continued my pursuit of performance art, through community and professional theater, choirs, films, apprenticeships, and of course plays and musicals at my school, where I served as President of the Thespians Troupe. It was during my first week at the University of Chicago in 2009, when I auditioned on a whim for an all-female a cappella group, Men in Drag, that I plunged deep into vocal music.
Always the most eager of beavers, I was writing arrangements and planning a tour for the group within a month of my acceptance, and was appointed Music Director partway through my second year. My first arrangement eventually became the first single off the group’s upcoming album, ended up on national compilation album, Voices Only 2011, won the 2012 CARA (Contemporary A Cappella Recording Award) for Best Female Collegiate Arrangement, and was nominated for the 2013 CARA for Best Female Collegiate Song. So it's safe to say that that song inspired much of what followed. To save the group money, and because I was interested, I soon took over tracking and editing for the album, and in December 2012, we dropped our album, Late Nights, Parades (which was recently nominated for four 2013 CARAs). Later that month, "Cherry Pie," was selected to appear on national compilation album, BOCA 2013.
During my sophomore year, I joined a second vocal group, Voices in Your Head, and significantly expanded my understanding of the a cappella community. Throughout my time as Publicity Chair, Business Manager, and President of Voices in Your Head, the group competed at the 2012 ICCA (International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella) Finals, won the 2012 Boston Sings Collegiate Competition, toured the East Coast, won several CARA nominations and awards, and was selected for numerous international compilation albums. The group's upcoming double-EP, upon which I am a writer and arranger, is due to be released in 2014 and has already been nominated for three 2013 CARAs. Both groups produced music videos (MiD, ViYH) in summer 2012.
In 2011, I became President of the University of Chicago A Cappella Council, and in 2012, I traveled to the Los Angeles A Cappella Festival, subsequently joining the CASA (Contemporary A Cappella Society of America) Program Managers as Assistant Educational Officer, as well as WACA (The Women's A Cappella Association) as an Ambassador.
Over the past few summers, I’ve done publicity and graphic design work at internships for Nakturnal Entertainment in Pittsburgh, singer/rapper Kellee Maize, and ATO Records in NYC, expanding on those skills with my vocal groups by designing posters, programs, banners, merchandise, and more. In summer 2012, I founded and directed a brand new a cappella group, FReestyle, at my former high school in Murrysville, PA, which has continued and flourished in summer 2013 and beyond. I was also a camp counselor at the first-ever Camp A Cappella in summer 2013.
Throughout all this time that I've been furthering my understanding and interest in group vocal music, I have also been working on personal projects. I am self-taught in voice, piano, and guitar, and am currently embarking on bass. I began writing poems in middle school, raps in high school (#LOLasaurusRex), and finally songs in late high school and college.
My style ranges from bluesy-jazzy-pop to folk to pop-rock. I’ve begun performing my original music at open mics and small venues, and have recorded in my own studio (spoiler alert: it’s my apartment), as well as with A Cappella Productions, Emerald City Productions, and Sled Dog Studios. I’ve also written original songs for Voices in Your Head and Men in Drag, and collaborated with YouTube sensation, Peter Hollens. In November 2012, I completed Sled Dog Studios' Next Level 1.5 program, where I worked alongside professionals and students alike, and learned the ins and outs of studio production. In January 2012, I completed a similar seminar program, Soup to Nuts, in San Francisco with Grammy award-winner, Bill Hare, and the Executive Producer of NBC's The Sing-Off, Deke Sharon. After producing albums, gaining experiences, and attending more seminars and workshops, I officially signed on as a recording engineer and producer with The Vocal Company in summer 2013.
And here I am. And every once in a while, I doubt myself: am I doing the right thing by pursuing music?
The answers I always come to are: the delight of making someone feel something or see something from a different perspective is what life is about. This is the most honest way that I can reach the depths of humanity's souls, and bring light and thought and art into our existence. And I'd much rather make someone feel alive than merely make my living.
Well. That’s quite a chunk of me, in text form. If you've made it the entire way through, cheers and thanks for braving it! You now know some things about me! Which is of course still far from knowing me, so if it’s knowing me that you desire, it's possible that my music can give you some further insight.
TL;DR: I have Important Things to say to the world, and I’m going to say them through music. As a dear friend once put it: I want to make people laugh or break their hearts.
L'amour est partout ou tu regardes,
Bri
It was at the ripe age of 4 that I thrust myself upon the music world by way of my church’s annual Christmas musical (which was supposed to be for kids in kindergarten and up, but please, I wanted to sing and was not having any of that Bell Choir business). I soloed on “Happy Birthday Jesus,” my parents teared up, and a star was born (literally – I was wearing a cardboard star costume with a winky face on it).
It was through those annual church Christmas and Easter productions that I learned the basics of performing. Lesson #1: forgetting the words to a solo is probably the worst thing that can happen to anyone, ever. Lesson #2: if you want to stand out in a chorus of dozens of your eager peers, you have to do something drastic, like wear bright red stockings or put a winky face on your cardboard star costume. Lesson #3: be extraordinarily kind to your directors and fans, mostly because they’ll likely be the ones providing cookies and Kool-Aid at the post-show reception in the gym.
Since then, I've grown as an artist, and my passion to connect with humanity through music has grown into an overwhelming urgency. I not only want to talk to the world through song; I must. I’m not only ambitious and enthusiastic; I am compelled.
Throughout high school, I continued my pursuit of performance art, through community and professional theater, choirs, films, apprenticeships, and of course plays and musicals at my school, where I served as President of the Thespians Troupe. It was during my first week at the University of Chicago in 2009, when I auditioned on a whim for an all-female a cappella group, Men in Drag, that I plunged deep into vocal music.
Always the most eager of beavers, I was writing arrangements and planning a tour for the group within a month of my acceptance, and was appointed Music Director partway through my second year. My first arrangement eventually became the first single off the group’s upcoming album, ended up on national compilation album, Voices Only 2011, won the 2012 CARA (Contemporary A Cappella Recording Award) for Best Female Collegiate Arrangement, and was nominated for the 2013 CARA for Best Female Collegiate Song. So it's safe to say that that song inspired much of what followed. To save the group money, and because I was interested, I soon took over tracking and editing for the album, and in December 2012, we dropped our album, Late Nights, Parades (which was recently nominated for four 2013 CARAs). Later that month, "Cherry Pie," was selected to appear on national compilation album, BOCA 2013.
During my sophomore year, I joined a second vocal group, Voices in Your Head, and significantly expanded my understanding of the a cappella community. Throughout my time as Publicity Chair, Business Manager, and President of Voices in Your Head, the group competed at the 2012 ICCA (International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella) Finals, won the 2012 Boston Sings Collegiate Competition, toured the East Coast, won several CARA nominations and awards, and was selected for numerous international compilation albums. The group's upcoming double-EP, upon which I am a writer and arranger, is due to be released in 2014 and has already been nominated for three 2013 CARAs. Both groups produced music videos (MiD, ViYH) in summer 2012.
In 2011, I became President of the University of Chicago A Cappella Council, and in 2012, I traveled to the Los Angeles A Cappella Festival, subsequently joining the CASA (Contemporary A Cappella Society of America) Program Managers as Assistant Educational Officer, as well as WACA (The Women's A Cappella Association) as an Ambassador.
Over the past few summers, I’ve done publicity and graphic design work at internships for Nakturnal Entertainment in Pittsburgh, singer/rapper Kellee Maize, and ATO Records in NYC, expanding on those skills with my vocal groups by designing posters, programs, banners, merchandise, and more. In summer 2012, I founded and directed a brand new a cappella group, FReestyle, at my former high school in Murrysville, PA, which has continued and flourished in summer 2013 and beyond. I was also a camp counselor at the first-ever Camp A Cappella in summer 2013.
Throughout all this time that I've been furthering my understanding and interest in group vocal music, I have also been working on personal projects. I am self-taught in voice, piano, and guitar, and am currently embarking on bass. I began writing poems in middle school, raps in high school (#LOLasaurusRex), and finally songs in late high school and college.
My style ranges from bluesy-jazzy-pop to folk to pop-rock. I’ve begun performing my original music at open mics and small venues, and have recorded in my own studio (spoiler alert: it’s my apartment), as well as with A Cappella Productions, Emerald City Productions, and Sled Dog Studios. I’ve also written original songs for Voices in Your Head and Men in Drag, and collaborated with YouTube sensation, Peter Hollens. In November 2012, I completed Sled Dog Studios' Next Level 1.5 program, where I worked alongside professionals and students alike, and learned the ins and outs of studio production. In January 2012, I completed a similar seminar program, Soup to Nuts, in San Francisco with Grammy award-winner, Bill Hare, and the Executive Producer of NBC's The Sing-Off, Deke Sharon. After producing albums, gaining experiences, and attending more seminars and workshops, I officially signed on as a recording engineer and producer with The Vocal Company in summer 2013.
And here I am. And every once in a while, I doubt myself: am I doing the right thing by pursuing music?
The answers I always come to are: the delight of making someone feel something or see something from a different perspective is what life is about. This is the most honest way that I can reach the depths of humanity's souls, and bring light and thought and art into our existence. And I'd much rather make someone feel alive than merely make my living.
Well. That’s quite a chunk of me, in text form. If you've made it the entire way through, cheers and thanks for braving it! You now know some things about me! Which is of course still far from knowing me, so if it’s knowing me that you desire, it's possible that my music can give you some further insight.
TL;DR: I have Important Things to say to the world, and I’m going to say them through music. As a dear friend once put it: I want to make people laugh or break their hearts.
L'amour est partout ou tu regardes,
Bri