I was born in Pennsylvania and raised in Washington, DC. My biological mother was a theologian and the woman who raised me, my second mother, was an administrative secretary for the government. My father was a concert tenor. I was raised in a home where music was a big part of my upbringing. I used to rehearse with my father; he sang European Classical music. I was always taken to the theatre from the time I was a little girl, and my father was singing, doing concerts, singing in church. I was a piano student from ages 6 to 12 years. I did a full piano recital, memorized, at the age 11. Those 6 years of piano study have served me quite well and have taken me really quite far in my singing and music career as a whole (composer, performer, teaching artist).