Biography
How It All Started…
Baraka (rhymes with “Erica”) was born into a musical family. With seven siblings all singing and taking piano lessons, it was easy to get into a fight over who got to practice piano next. Still, Baraka excelled as a prodigious pianist and singer and found herself winning several piano competitions and eventually singing the National Anthem for the Anaheim Angels Major League baseball team as a featured soloist in front of a crowd of 50,000+ at the young age of 14.
Baraka began recording studio work as a teenager and went on to study Voice at San Francisco State University for two years, then transferred to the renowned Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California. Baraka completed both her Bachelor’s Degree in Voice and her Master’s Degree in Teaching Music in only three years at USC.
Opera, Pop, and Beat Boxing?
While studying voice and singing operatic arias in French, Italian, and German at USC, Baraka belted out pop and rock tunes with her contemporary a cappella group, USC Reverse Osmosis. Competing regularly, Baraka received awards in several categories, including Best Soloist, Best Arranger, and Best Vocal Percussionist. While in New York, competing in the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella, Baraka received the International Award for Outstanding Vocal Percussionist… wait, what? Vocal Percussion? Yes, among her abilities as a songwriter, arranger, pianist, and singer, Baraka is a skilled vocal percussionist.
Professional Work:
Baraka currently works as a studio singer for various SAG and AFTRA recording sessions, in addition to independent recording projects. Among many esteemed artists and composers, she has had the pleasure of working with Danny Elfman, Jason Robert Brown, Michael Giacchino, and Gabriel Mann on several occasions. Baraka sings with several caroling groups, including Grammy award-nominated group, The Caroling Company, run by Dianne Burt, and Michele Weir’s group, The Holiday Singers.
One of Baraka’s favorite gigs is performing with her virtuosic brother, pianist Jonathan May (Disneyland), in a jazz duo called Echoes of May and with her all-female trio, The Los Angeles Muses. She is regularly seen singing at her church, Reality LA, in Hollywood, in addition to live performances at The Rooftop Club, atop the Riverside Art Museum, and various events.
As always, Baraka continues to write her own original music. As an eclectic artist, her original songs often have an overall pop feel, though heavily infused with jazz, gospel, and other musical influences. She remains happily busy each day following her family legacy singing, writing, recording, arranging, and teaching voice.
