Celebration of Music - Talent Search

Hello there!

My name is Charlotte Murray, and I'm a simple 13 year old girl from Royal Oak, Michigan. Multiple activities shape my busy lifestyle, like voice lessons, piano lessons, and school Student Council meetings, but practicing different forms of visual art and music make it all worthwhile.

I've been singing for as long as I can remember, but my interest in music was truly launched in 2015 when I joined the Royal Oak Children's Choir. What began as an entertaining pastime became my passion. I started developing new skills to use during performances, and before I knew it, I was singing and dancing onstage. I loved it! Two years later, I was a member of the Royal Oak Middle School sixth grade choir, and I began learning even more about music, like solfege, dynamics and sight reading. I continued improving my techniques and exploring different genres until music was without a doubt, a permanent factor in my life.

Hailing from the small, twelve square mile city of Royal Oak has never been easy for me. A constant feeling that I'll be stuck there for the rest of my life often weighs me down, yet I know that I have more to look forward to than I could predict right now. Just the thought of not pursuing my passion for singing only makes me try harder to succeed. Music has gotten me through countless tough days, and I don't want to imagine where I would be without it. It has always been a support for me, with lyrics that sing my story and embed themselves in my head. It gives me purpose, it gives me reason and it gives me direction. It means everything to me.

All of my self assessing, critiquing, repetition and practice has led me to this opportunity, and I'd be a fool to let it slip through my grasp. For once, I want this life, my life, to be a song that I sing. So here I am, a contestant in a performance that could fling me into the dream I've been dreaming my whole life. That dream was fueled by constant support from my family and friends, from teachers and peers, and from myself. I have come too far and have gone through too much to not provide myself with the shot to fulfill that dream. The dream to inspire and be a role model for those who may never even meet me. The dream to be a woman one day that little children can look up to and say, "When I'm older, I want to be like her." I want to change the world, and I believe music just might be the way to do that.

Endless thanks to those who always believed in me,

Charlotte Murray