About Me

 How I Started Singing

I was born in the Philippines and grew up in Hong Kong. Though my parents were not musicians, they loved music. Karaoke is a huge part of Filipino culture, so I was exposed to a lot of singing in Filipino parties growing up. Additionally, my relatives in the Philippines and the US have beautiful voices and can play a lot of different instruments. I remember how my cousins would teach and encourage me to sing, so I would say I developed my love for singing from my family.

I grew up near Hong Kong Disneyland, where my parents would frequently take me as a kid. I was inspired by all the music I heard and from seeing many of my family’s friends perform. 

In grade 1 or Primary 1 in Hong Kong, I didn't really have the chance to do any extracurriculars like learning music or the arts. I was struggling academically in school, so most of my time was spent on doing homework and being surrounded by academic tutors. But then in the second grade, my parents decided to transfer me to a different school. The principal there loved music, and we had annual school talent shows. He encouraged me to join both the school choir and the talent shows. That was my first exposure to performing by myself or with my classmates and friends. Then one day, my aunt wanted me to sing for her wedding, I realized singing was something I was very passionate about and wanted to learn seriously, so I asked my mom if she could find a teacher to develop my voice and skills as a musician. 

We were thankful to find out that my mom’s friend in our church choir was a music teacher and classically trained singer. She became my vocal teacher and helped me to develop a strong foundation. 

I used to sing a lot of Taylor Swift songs, like 'Love Story.' which I even performed in school. However, I actually got into opera through the musical 'Phantom of the Opera.' I was like, 'What is this genre that they're talking about in this musical?’ So my voice teacher taught me about opera and classical music when she saw my interest in it. I thought it was really amazing how opera singers were able to project without a microphone and can convey so much emotion for the audience to feel. I was like, 'I wanna do that.'

 I started joining singing competitions, where we sang classical pieces. It was nice that a lot of kids my age in Hong Kong were also into classical music. Then I also started to sing in our Church and eventually, I started to build some confidence to audition for a lot of Hong Kong Musical shows. These shows gave me the opportunity to perform to bigger audiences and in bigger venues. I joined the HKYAF, Kids Gallery, Face Production, CentreStage, Vienna Boys Choir Academy, and performed with the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong with their performance of Snowman and the Bear. Thus, I realized early on that I would really want to hone and develop my craft by studying Music. Grateful for my secondary school, where I was given a Music Scholarship and was encouraged to continue with my passion. 

Learning music had actually helped me with my academic studies. When I started music my struggle with school was lessen. I am a strong believer that Music helps with our brain development and can bring happiness and joy to people. I remember that when I was young I had a poetry teacher who had sadly passed away, she shared with me that when she listened to the singing recordings my mom sent her it cheered and uplifted her. It was very touching to see how music gave her comfort in such difficult times. So I like to think that through singing I can reach, uplift, and touch a lot of people’s hearts and bring happiness to them. It sounds very cliche or cheesy, but that is the goal!"