BIOGRAPHY
Acclaimed for her lush and vibrant tone, California native Jayme Alilaw has performed roles from both the soprano and mezzo-soprano repertoires. Most recently, she has sung the roles of Mrs. Jones in Kurt Weill’s Street Scene, Dido (Dido and Aeneas), and Lauretta (Gianni Schicchi), at California State University, Northridge Opera Theatre. With OperaWorks, she has performed the Second Lady (Die Zauberflöte), and the role of Marketing Director in the world staged premiere of Paul Salerni’s Tony Caruso’s Last Broadcast. Jayme Alilaw also premiered the role of Laura Delano in the UCLA Seminal Institute’s production of Kenneth Wells’ The First Lady. As a Sergeant in the U.S. Army Reserves, Ms. Alilaw sang for military ceremonies throughout the United States and Middle East.
Driven by a deep passion for traditional Negro spirituals, Jayme premiered “An Afternoon of Spirituals”, a concert collaboration of musicians she organized to present traditional Spirituals at the California African American Museum. As an advocate for the performance of works by African American composers, she has presented her research on African American art song and performed at the National Council of Black Studies Annual Conference. She has also had her writings published with the internet magazine Operagasm and was named as the Second place award recipient at the CSUN Annual Student Research and Creative Works Symposium for her presentation on the same subject . Jayme was also awarded the CSUN Association of Retired Faculty Memorial Award for this research.
Jayme’s honors include a Los Angeles District Winner in the Metropolitan Opera National Auditions, National Association of Negro Musicians Vocal Competition- Georgia First Place winner, Winner and Audience Choice recipient for the Harlem Opera Vocal Competition, American Traditions Competition Quarterfinalist, and finalist in the Palm Springs Opera Guild Competition. Ms. Alilaw was also the winner of the Performing Arts Award from the Fine Arts Club of Pasadena and she is the two time recipient of the Village Voices Chorale Scholarship. Jayme was inducted into Pi Kappa Lamba Musical Honor Fraternity in the spring of 2007. Jayme Alilaw has a Masters of Music degree in Vocal Performance from California State University, Northridge where she studied with Judith Scott. Jayme now resides in Atlanta, Ga.