Today we’d like to introduce you to Aliyah Danielle.
Hi Aliyah, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
It’s so interesting to look back on my life and realize how each and every experience I’ve had have come together to put me in this exact space in which I exist today, and I am so grateful. I’m a musician by trade, and I grew up watching my mom play piano at churches around Milwaukee, WI (where I grew up). I’m pretty sure that’s where my love of music began. As I grew older, I started to explore my own musical interests, taking piano and drum lessons before getting started on brass instruments and joining the band at school. I continued throughout high school and now have two degrees in music, and I work professionally as a performer, composer, arranger, orchestrator, producer, and educator. I feel so grateful to have had so much support throughout my upbringing and credit much of my success to the people who lifted me up along my journey.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I became very aware of how “different” I was at a very young age. Not only was it less common for women/girls to learn brass instruments at the time I started, but there were also very few people of color occupying the spaces that I spent much of my time in. I constantly felt othered, not only as the only black girl in the orchestra but also when I would go home or into other black spaces and feel like I didn’t fit in because my interests didn’t always align with everyone else’s. Much of my journey to actualizing the person I am today has come from reconciling my true identity with the one I used to personify for other people’s approval. I’m grateful that I took the difficult step of acknowledging this internal discord and turning inward to allow myself to live fully and authentically.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar with what you do, what can you tell them about what you do?
Like I mentioned before, I’m a professional performer, composer, arranger, orchestrator, producer, and educator in the field of music. I studied French horn growing up, which is an instrument that traditionally sticks to the classical music genre. In my master’s degree at Berklee Valencia, I had the opportunity to expand and explore my instrument in other genres, including jazz, pop, Mediterranean, R&B, soul, funk, folk, and music that fused many different genres. One of the most rewarding things in my journey thus far has been the fact that listeners, especially students, come up to me after performances or hearing my work and share that they didn’t know that was possible. I’m proud to be pushing the boundaries of my instrument and making a direct impact as a role model in the field – something I didn’t have when I was coming up.
In my creations, I seek to tell stories through sound and blend genres to create new, interesting sonic textures. A collaborator at heart, my mission is to use my art to pose questions and start conversations surrounding issues embedded in our world’s cultural and social systems, allowing us to better understand others and their belief systems.
Risk-taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
While daunting, I believe risk-taking is essential to personal and professional growth. Some of my most treasured life and career experiences have occurred because I took a risk and leaned into uncertainty. It’s easy to get discouraged when you’re in the thick of a struggle. I very frequently take creative and life risks and am always looking for ways to get closer to my ideal self. I’m CONSTANTLY wondering whether or not I’ve made the right decision, especially after that first leap, but 9 times out of 10 the outcome is going to outweigh any fear I had of jumping in the first place. That being said, the more risks I’ve taken, the easier it has become to navigate all that comes with them!
Contact Info:
- Website: aliyahdanielle.com
- Instagram: @thealiyahdanielle
- Facebook: @thealiyahdanielle
- Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/aliyahdanielle
Image Credits
Rosie Yang Photography
