Anyone who attended View From New York, one of our last SummerFest performances in Timnath, can attest to Shereen Pimental’s beautifully strong voice and passionate stage presence. With every song, Shereen showed off her vocal range and ability to move the audience with her emotion and attitude. No one is surprised that the next step for her is a lead role on Broadway!
We are excited to announce that the vocal-stunning twenty year old Juilliard student, auditioning the day following her SummerFest debut concert, and is now the new rising star of Broadway as Maria in the revival of Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story. Performances will begin December 10 at the Broadway Theatre, with opening night set for February 6, 2020.
Shereen Pimental started performing professionally at the age of nine when she debuted on Broadway as Young Nala in The Lion King. This season she has performed In the Juilliard Vocal Arts production of Orpheus in the Underworld and is scheduled to appear in the 2019 production of Dido and Aneas.
Ms. Pimentel is from Teaneck, New Jersey is a third year undergraduate at The Juilliard School, studying with Edith Wiens. A proud recipient of a Kovner Fellowship at the Juilliard School, she is pursuing a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance.
Her past experience includes a performance in the Juilliard drama production of the musical Into The Woods directed by Sarna Lapine and has been featured in numerous Juilliard songbook recitals and performed scenes from a wide range of operas, including Mozart’s Cosi fan Tutte. She has also performed in the school’s production of Die Lustigen Weiber von Windsor.
Bruce Adolphe, Artistic Director of Off the Hook Arts, says about Shereen, “Looking for a soprano with a beautiful voice and strong acting ability who could sing a wide range of repertoire— including my song cycle and songs by Jerome Kern, Harold Arlen, etc. — I called my friend Brian Zeger, who used to direct the Metropolitan Opera Young Artists Program and is currently director of the Vocal Arts dept of the Juilliard School. Brian had recommended singers to me before and has always sent me amazingly talented artists (including Sasha Cooke before she was famous and Kady Evanyshyn, who premiered my piece about Piers Sellers last summer at Off the Hook.) Brian recommended Shereen, saying she is an extraordinary singer. She came to my house to rehearse with Marija and with me, and we loved her singing and her personality in general. She was a complete delight to be around.”
Off the Hook Arts is proud to provide a platform for young, up and coming artists and will continue to use SummerFest and WinterFest to help launch the careers of promising performers.