Emma Nissen

So grew up in a very musical family, obviously.

My brother, who's the second oldest, taught me how to read chords.

And I think once I read chords, I kind of quit on piano.

But I did take piano growing up.

And I could read music, but I've since...

My skills are lacking in that department.

So I read chords and I started to find songs that I really loved and learned them and then play by ear.

Yeah, yeah, definitely play by ear and then just relying on chords.

But so I was fortunate enough to get a scholarship to Northern Arizona University, their vocal program.

And I don't know that I quite comprehended how opera that would be.

And so it wasn't like my jam necessarily, but I was like, I was in it and I was excited for it, but it meant that I was singing like six hours a day between practices and choirs and ear training classes and diction classes.

They all had some element of vocalization and singing and, or just talking or in my extracurriculars.

So what ended up happening was nine weeks into that first semester, I hemorrhaged my right vocal cord.

No.

Well, yes, but it was a perfect segue.

So at that time in my life...

I felt pretty connected spiritually to like what God wants me to do, I will do.

And what God's plan for me is I want to, I want to, uh, you know, chase after that.

And so I kind of had this, like, if there's a perfect window of opportunity for me to do something that God wants, like I want to follow that.

And so I had that kind of in the back of my head.