The Journey to Nina..
My journey to Nina began my senior year of high school. You know, the year that
everyone is trying to find their perfect college and university and money to pay for it all?
Well, I was looking for myself.. AND a full time job but that was the least of my worries.
My final year I had officially started vocal training for the very first time and was
completely enamored with music. The notes, the sounds, the vocabulary.. All of it was
entrancing and it made me want to become a better singer and performer so that people
could love music as much as I do.
Anyway, I was introduced to In The Heights by my vocal teacher at the time, Kelly Himes,
who was convinced that I was NOT a Second Alto but that I was indeed a First Soprano.
This blew my mind. For my entire life I had been thinking that I was only meant to sing
lower vocal parts, but here this soprano songbird was telling me that I have the ability to
make my vocal range soar beyond what I knew. She handed me multiple pages of sheet
music to add to my repertoire and Breathe was one of the few song selections. I listened to
the entire soundtrack to Heights and fell in love. From Nina’s concern about her parents, to
Vanessa trying to get out of the Heights, to Sonny who just wants a future for himself and
the Barrio… I loved them all. The characters, the storyline, the music. It was like listening
