Meet Camilo Estrada

Today we’d like to introduce you to Camilo Estrada.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Camilo. So, let’s start at the beginning, and we can move on from there.
I started singing when I was nine in my church’s children’s choir. A music teacher at the time noticed I had potential and recommended I join the Pasadena Boy’s Choir to continue singing at a more professional level. I ended up auditioning for them and then singing with them for a couple of years until I graduated middle school.

From there, I continued studying music at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts where I ended up falling in love with classical singing and performing. During my senior year, I decided I wanted to perform professionally, so I ended up studying Vocal Performance at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

I got a great opportunity from a friend during my last year to move out to New York City after graduation, so I took it and had been living out here ever since. It’s been a whirlwind since I moved out here, but I’ve been managing to get some consistent acting work.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It’s definitely not been smooth. The transition moving away from my family has been rough and also just the culture shock of moving to New York City to audition for musical theatre. Keep in mind I studied classical voice, so there was a lot I had to teach myself about auditioning for musical theatre. I realized a lot of making it in the city is about who you know and because I didn’t study musical theatre I don’t have a lot of connections. I also had to learn a lot of music that I hadn’t studied and committed to a crazy life schedule.

During audition season, I will get up at 4 am just to try to get seen at an audition, and some of those times I won’t even make it into the room. A lot of well-paying shows are for people that are in the union and so if you aren’t then it’s really hard to get seen at those auditions because they will look at union members first. The only way to join the union is by getting union points by performing at union houses or getting a union contract through a show. You can see how that can be difficult if you’re not really getting seen at union auditions in the first place.

It’s an exhausting lifestyle, and it’s easy to lose hope, but it’s kind of like a survival of the fittest situation. The just have to pick yourself up at the end of the day and find that motivation inside of you to keep doing what you love.

We’d love to hear more about what you do.
I’m a freelance actor/singer specializing in classical voice technique. Sometimes I’ll get called in to sing at churched or just for a recital or concert or something. Most times I audition for musicals, operas, and operettas and perform either in the ensemble or as a main role. I tend to do a lot of comedic work in my acting roles but am known for being able to also come across very sincere and leave my heart on stage.

I think one thing that really sets me apart besides that is my ethnicity. In a career that’s mostly dominated by the Caucasian community often times, it can feel intimidating being in an audition room where no one really looks like you. I think in this day and age it’s really important to show that we don’t need to pigeonhole some of these roles to one ethnicity.

I’m lucky that more and more directors are seeing this and making an effort to cast racially diverse shows.

What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
I think the most important quality you need to have to make it in this business is perseverance. There are so many times I’ve been knocked down or thrown a curveball and knowing how to navigate these challenges is something I’d like to think I’m really good at doing. You have to know how to pick yourself right back up and how to roll with the punches.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.camiloestrada.com
• Phone: (626) 679- 4758
• Email: camestrada94@gmail.com

Image Credit:
Cosmo Clemens, Joshua Brown, and Mark Garvin

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