Today we’d like to introduce you to Chasiti Lashay Walker.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Chasiti Lashay. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
So I grew up singing in the church choir, as many do. However, it wasn’t until 8th grade that I was introduced to anything remotely close to classical music when I joined my middle school choir at Pin Oak Middle School. Even still this was just choral music. While in the chorus there, my choir director suggested I audition for HSPVA, to which I was just disgusted! At the time, I wanted to go to Lamar High School just like my big sister. Anywho, I auditioned for HSPVA and absolutely did not get in. The audition was a mess! I didn’t have the right music, couldn’t sing in the right key, and just had no idea what I was doing. Nonetheless, I attended Lamar High School in River Oaks and joined the choir there. My middle school choir director had written a recommendation letter and I was put into the JV Women’s Chorus instead of the Beginning Women’s Chorus, where most 9th graders were. Well, I have just always been so stubborn. I asked to be moved to Beginning Women because, mostly I wanted to be with my friends. I promise I’m going somewhere with this story. After my first semester in beginning women’s I really grew bored and wanted to be moved up to JV women’s. Unfortunately my schedule didn’t work for that course. Now in order to be moved up to a higher level chorus we had to take a sight singing test and our choir directors would decide if we should move up or not. I’m guessing I did a pretty good job because one of my choir directors, Mrs. Gail Land, said to me that she would move me to Concert Women (one level above JV) but I had to take it serious. It wasn’t until that moment that I really began to take it serious, because before then it was just something to do. Eventually, I moved to Chorale which was the top choir. In chorale, we all had to take voice lessons and this was something I had never done. I remember dreading being called out of rehearsal for my voice lesson. Either way, I would really say that being in the choir at Lamar High School under Mrs. Gail Land and Mr. Scott Houston really set my destiny. My senior year, Mr. Houston told me that I needed to study voice performance in college; funny thing is my mom was saying the same thing. I refused! Remember, I was stubborn. I wanted to go to Tuskegee University and I wanted to study accounting. And so I did. I joined the Tuskegee Golden Voices Concert Choir under the direction of Dr. Wayne Barr but I studied accounting. It wasn’t until my junior year of undergrad that I realized how completely unhappy and unmotivated I was as an accounting major. It was hard for me to even attend class because I was just unmotivated. But being in that choir, now that was everything! I remember sitting down with a friend and saying, you know, I think I really want to try this singing thing. I want to get a music degree. We talked for hours and they told me to go for it. I called my mom and told her and she said, “I told you so!” I didn’t want to leave Tuskegee without my degree so I changed my major to Business Administration and graduated in 2014 with my eyes set on a career in music. Through the Tuskegee choir, I got the chance to go to Pisa, Italy the summer after I graduated and I had a few voice lessons with a local opera singer there. Now, this is where the magic happens. While there, this singer told me to learn Casta Diva, an aria from Bellini’s Norma. I knew nothing about opera and I had NO BUSINESS singing this aria. But, I was unaware at the time. So, I went to YouTube and searched this aria and found a video of the late Montserrat Caballe singing this and I was in complete awe of not only this piece of music, but the woman herself. That is the moment I KNEW that I wanted to be an opera singer. I had no words to explain what I felt but I knew that I needed to feel it again. After that summer I took a year off and worked as a substitute teacher while I took the time to figure out my next steps. I wanted to stay in Texas because I had just been in Alabama for 4 years. The thing is every school in Texas told me that I needed a Bachelor of Music before I could get into any graduate program. So I ended up going to Sam Houston and starting a second bachelors. It didn’t make any sense to anyone, not even to me but there was something stirring in me saying that I NEED to be an opera singer. A hunger that I can’t explain that led me blindly on this path. Things just started to fall into place. I had the opportunity to go to Italy again in the summer of 2016, this time in Lucca. This was a one month program where we studied Italian, took voice lessons, acting classes and had a performance every weekend. While there I met a friend, Jasmine Johnson, who attended the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She told me that I did not need a BM to come there as a graduate student. Now remember, every school in Texas said I did! Either way, she confirmed with her teacher who said no, as long as you have a bachelor’s you can apply! After taking some time to think about it, I did just that! Once again I had no idea what I was doing in applying and auditioning for a masters of music program. So I was lucky enough to have a teacher and mentor to help me, Dr. Jammieca Mott. She really took me under her wing and taught me things that I needed to know in order to make it in this field. I am fortunate enough to say that I was accepted into the conservatory (SFCM) and am studying with another guiding light, Cesar Ulloa. I graduated with my Masters last May and will be graduating with my Postgraduate Degree from SFCM in May 2020. As long as this was, this only the beginning of my story! I just recently competed in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and am fortunate to say that I will be competing in the semi-finals in February. So my mantra is always Onward and Upward!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Well, it has most certainly not been a smooth ride, and I wish I could say otherwise. I find that my biggest struggle has been that I am a late comer to a field where most people start much earlier. Not as early as pianists and violinists who start as young as age five, but certainly most of my peers began as either teenagers or at the very least age 18. So I found and am still finding myself playing the game of catch up. This is especially true in subjects such as music theory and music history. Simple things, like how to breathe for singing that most people learned at 18, I was learning at 24. However, because of the size and timbre of my voice people don’t really care about my late start and I can’t take the time to say, well I’m sorry I’m kind of new to this. I just don’t have that option. So I have to function as if I’ve been doing this just as long as everyone else, all the while still learning and trying to soak up as much knowledge as possible. I think my advice would be to remain humble at all times but don’t show your hand at all times. I think that if I went around saying, “I’m new to this! I’m still learning!” people just wouldn’t want to take me seriously. I just try to get the job done while still showing that I am willing to learn. That way I show that I can be trusted but I’m not a know it all either who thinks they’re too good for anyone else’s advice. Something else that has helped me in this journey is just letting the cards fall where they may. I think too many times we want to control every single aspect of our lives and careers. This can prevent us from ever reaching who we are supposed to be and from doing what we were put here to do. Know that you don’t even have it in your imagination all that you are capable of. So sometimes, even if doesn’t make any sense, just do it because you never know where the road will lead you.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with your business – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
I am an opera singer, a soprano in particular! I just recently received my Master of Music from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and will receive my Postgraduate degree this May. I have performed the roles of Primadonna in Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos, Suor Angelica in Puccini’s Suor Angelica and covered the role of Countess in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro. I have also performed the following partial roles: Countess from Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, Mimi in Puccini’s La Boheme, Desdemona in Verdi’s Otello, Cleopatra in Barber’s Antony and Cleopatra, Mère Marie in Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites, Blanche in Previn’s A Streetcar Named Desire, and Arabella in Strauss’ Arabella.
I just recently won the Western Regionals of the MONC will compete in the semi-finals of the Metropolitan Opera National Council (MONC) Auditions on February 24th! I have also recently been hired as a young artist for Chautauqua Opera’s 2020 Young Artist Program where I will cover the roles of Angel More and Henrietta M. in The Mother of Us All and Annu in Thumbprint.
So besides all that operatic stuff, I also sing classical art songs and spirituals.
If I had to say that anything set me apart, it would be that performance for me comes from a very spiritual place. As I stated before, I grew up singing in the church and so that is how I connect to music, at the end of the day it all goes back to God for me. I know that my talent is God-given and I know that it is not something I was given to flaunt but to bring glory to God and to touch other people. My prayer before I walk onto any stage is always that I can just touch ONE person.
Do you think there are structural or other barriers impeding the emergence of more female leaders?
The World of classical music whether it be Opera or orchestral has always been dominated by men historically. I will say that we have been taking strides to rectify this however, I think it is still very shocking to see a female conductor at any opera house or symphony. It surely would be big news if a woman were conducting. So I think that what we’re fighting here is tradition. From the beginning this was a field run by men and so as with anything people tend to get stuck in tradition. The times are changing and we are seeing more female composers, directors, and even just orchestral players, so I think we are moving in the right direction but we’re just not quite there yet. Just like with any other field, it’s the older generation who is a little more stubborn in such a matter.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Chasiti Lashay
- Facebook: facebook.com/chasiti.walker
Image Credit:
Alissa Goretsky
Brenda Hayward
Matthew Washburn
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