Emilie D'Andrilli

The first performances I ever gave were on our living room carpet.  My parents began my musical studies with piano and violin lessons, but it was singing and dancing to their Broadway record collection that ignited my passion.  I continued playing the piano and violin through elementary school, but it took the inspirational example of someone close to me to give me courage to begin to sing in public.  I had a very special babysitter who starred in several high school plays and musicals.  She was a confident, talented performer, as well as an incredibly fun and imaginative babysitter.  I remember running lines with her in my pajamas, holding her worn script and helping her memorize.  The night I saw her perform in ‘The Pirates of Penzance’ changed my life forever.  I knew I had been introduced to a way of performing that combined everything I loved about music.

In high school, I gained the courage to audition for plays and musicals and began the process of discovering my artistic self.  But while I did have the amazing opportunity to sing and act onstage, there was a special teacher who was instrumental to my self-discoveries.  My parents had found me a wonderful, strictly classical, piano teacher.  She worked very hard with me on classical repertoire and technique, but realized my love was Broadway music.  She made an important decision to ask me what I would like to play on the piano.  She had never heard of ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ but allowed me to bring it to her, and so allowed me to blossom as a musician. 

Throughout my undergraduate degree in Theater Performance, I worked hard on my singing.  I began to gravitate toward studying classical singing in the pursuit of operatic performance.  The rich musical fabric of operas pulled me in, and I began studying at the Manhattan School of Music.  While working diligently on my voice I performed in Italy, New York City, and on Long Island.  However, in my recent experience teaching very young children, I have found a new passion.  I feel it is not only my responsibility to pass on the information I have learned, but the inspiration and passion given to me by my teachers.