BIO
Krista’s multifaceted career spans recording artist, song writer and actress. Armed with a degree in Classical Voice from the University of Southern California, she possesses a vocal range of four octaves and sings in five languages. Blending elements of opera and pop music, her classical music delivery upholds opera’s original vocal standards.
Becoming Krista...
Early Years
Krista’s mother managed the Orpheum Theatre, home of the New Orleans Symphony, providing Krista with exposure to classical music from an early age. At 5 years old Krista’s exceptional voice became apparent and she was enrolled in operatic music training for children at Louisiana State University Children’s Opera Society. By age 7 she had learned how to read music and sing age appropriate classical repertoire.
At 9 years old Krista’s family moved to Los Angeles. Krista immediately landed recurring acting roles in popular television shows such as Sister, Sister, Disney pilot Four in One; Search and Rescue and a number of commercials. She was nominated for a Screen Actor’s Guild award at the age of 12.
Krista made her musical theater debut in “Angels Across 110th Street “at The Ivar Theater in Hollywood and Hansel and Gretel. Shortly after she won the talent show, Star Search with Ed McMahon. Krista was signed to Warner Brothers as an R&B recording artist at the age of 13 years old however pop music was not her passion. Selico said that as a black artist she felt pressure, self imposed as well as by the industry, to fit into the mainstream genre of R&B. It was at this pivotal juncture that she realized that although she loved recording music and considered herself a recording artist, singing classically was her gift and “calling” so she declined further R&B overtures and made a conscious decision to pursue classical arts.
Formative and Educational Years
Continuing to follow her true passion for recording Krista was a featured soloist in the Steven Spielberg soundtrack Amistad scored by John Williams. She then went on to study at the Los Angeles Highschool for the Arts (LACHSA) and performed her first opera production “Alcina” at the Luckman Theater in Los Angeles. Although Krista never believed in competing with her talent she won several opera competitions including the African Americans for Opera Young Artist Award and the LA Opera’s Spotlight Awards and was awarded scholarship to USC’s Thornton School of Music Classical Voice Program where she developed a love for “Bel Canto” opera.
During college Selico furthered her music education learning how to sing in Italian, French and German. She was awarded studentship at a the prestigious L’accedemia de Monte Carlo where she performed her first role in Italy “La Serva Padrona” under the baton of the great German Maestro Herbert Handt. After receiving a Bachelor of Arts in Classical Voice from the University of Southern California, Krista became unsure that she wanted to continue to pursue staged opera. She instead chose to figure out how to make her way back to recording however this time recording her classical voice. She began songwriting and working with notable British music producer Qura Rankin and opera singer/producer Stephanie Vlahos with whom she developed her “pop classical” recording style blending all of the styles that she had previously been exposed to. In her soul, she felt that recorded classical music had the opportunity to be relevant to a younger, progressive generation through original innovation in ways that staged opera performance did not.
After becoming unclear about the direction of her music, Selico took time off from recording and writing. She then founded the Afrobeats Music Festival “Helix Festival” 2019. The festival aimed to elevate Afro-beats artists during the genre’s rise to the commercial sphere and had an all star line up with Davido, Ty Dolla $ign, and Walshy Fire as the first-year headliners. However, the first year of Helix Festival was canceled due to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.
Professional Launch
During the pandemic Krista gained clarity on her music style and began recording again. She launched an Instagram page where she was able to expose social media to classical music by intersecting it with fashion. Because of her flair and obvious talent, fashion houses Versace and Ferragamo invited her to Milan Fashion Week as their next first opera singer guest. This ultimately led to success as an influencer and garnered her over 1 million followers in the first 2 years of the page’s launch.
Krista then recorded her debut opera recordings of “O Mio Babbino Caro” , “Quando M’en Vo” and “Vissi D’arte” at Warner Brother’s Eastman Soundstage under the baton of Maestro Anthony Parthner. She was soon after introduced to notable composer and producer Nathan Wang by her voice teacher Shigemi Matsumoto and Columbia Artist Manager Marty Starks. Krista went on to develop, write and produce the remainder of her album with maestro Wang. These dynamic and innovate crossover classical works were recorded under the baton of Maestro Wang at Abbey Road featuring the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. The songs were later finalized by Dave Reitzas at Westlake Studios in Los Angeles. Krista also worked with British producer Max Herman to launch the project in London.