Beautiful Deep: A Journey of Faith, Part 1

Featuring Sherrita Duran

“I fell in love with opera, I fell in love with Puccini and Verdi, and I went to USC (University of Southern California), to the music school there, because that was my passion. I'm going to be an opera singer. That's all I want to do, be an opera singer. So, I just put all my energy into that and obviously life, you know, it surprises and changes.” Sherrita Duran

Join me this week for the first part of my conversation with the incredibly talented and charismatic Sherrita Duran, professional singer and songwriter, and fellow US expat in Italy.

In this first part of our chat, recorded during Easter week in Florence, we talk about Sherrita’s vocation, her path as an artist, and her journey to Italy. We also touch on her love of opera, what first drew her to the country, what kept her here, and what it was like to make the leap, professionally and personally, from the stages of Broadway to the piazzas, theaters, and concert halls of Italy.

We also talk about what it is like to be a performing artist in Italy today, what she is currently working on, and her exciting plans for the future.

Links

https://sherrita.com/

https://music.apple.com/it/artist/sherrita-duran/201995862

https://open.spotify.com/artist/4v3o91RHZwTd7Fd4Y94jsv

https://www.youtube.com/ciaotanto

https://www.instagram.com/sherritaduran

https://vt.tiktok.com/ZGeME6csW/

Official Biography

A SONG THAT COMES FROM THE HEART, A VOICE THAT TOUCHES THE SOUL”

A rich colourful voice, with a warmth like her home state of California, a velvety timbre with a notable extension, sensitivity and technique that grant her the ability to be versatile in many different styles. It all began with her childhood passion for Broadway musicals and opera ...

The voice of Sherrita amazes and delights the listener to the point that the music critic Mario Luzzatto Fegiz called it'' An acrobatic soprano, a force of nature capable of uniting Bel canto to black music.''

Born and raised in Fresno (California), Sherrita moved to Los Angeles where she earned a Bachelor of Music in Opera and Vocal Arts at the University of Southern California. While still attending the university she began appearing on prestigious stages in the United States (Dorothy Chandler Pavilion with the Los Angeles Opera, Pasadena Performing Arts Center and the Mark Taper Forum) and Canada (Ford Theatre for the Performing Arts in Toronto); she also toured Europe (Germany, France and Austria) on tour with The Albert McNeil Jubilee Singers.

Sherrita decided to move to New York to devote herself to opera and musical theater where she performed in the highly proclaimed Broadway productions of Showboat and Candide at the Gershwin Theater. Both shows were directed by the legendary Broadway director Hal Prince. She performed in other musical productions at New York City Center “Encores!” She also participated at the Dicapo Opera young artist program and the 'American Singers' Opera Project, a program for young opera singers. Television appearances include Good Morning America, The Tony Awards (Candide) and The Jay Leno Show.