Alison Bolshoi, Sharing Her Voice With Nutley & The World

My name is Alison Bolshoi and I’m an international opera singer and voice teacher, and I drive a Kia Optima.  I was born in Westchester, NY, and started performing with my parents’ theatre troupe when I was just 18 months old; tap-dancing and singing.  Yes, I was one of those prodigy kids who do everything early and fast.  We just had no idea at the time that I would end up singing opera.

 

All through school, I assumed I would be a musical theatre performer, but by the time I got to college, my voice was too powerful for musical theatre repertoire and it felt awkward and wrong to me.  A professor helped me realize I should be singing opera, and right out of college I was hired as a singer at an opera nightclub in Greenwich Village called Bianchi & Margarita.  I worked there for 6 years, until Senator Paul Simon, from Chicago, was visiting New York and heard me sing.  He sent me to the Lyric Opera of Chicago for an audition.  I didn’t get hired, but I realized I needed to take myself seriously as an opera singer and began to study intensely with private teachers in NYC.

 

My husband and I met and married a short time after that, moved to Montclair and had two children.  We lived in North Jersey for 18 years and loved it, and recently moved to a beautiful farm in western New Jersey, in Blairstown.  I still do a lot of things in Nutley because there always seem to be interesting community events going on.  I also see a fantastic massage therapist there at Alternative Bodyworks.  But the best thing about Nutley, for me, is Nutley Kia.

 

I’ve been very blessed with a big talent and with a great career.  Over the years, I’ve sung in Italy, France, Germany, Czech Republic, Spain, Greece and of course all over the USA.  I always say yes if I’m free and a local charity or church needs me to sing something for them.  In 2020 I will make my debut at Dallas Opera in Wagner’s Lohengrin.  This past May I made my debut at Carnegie Hall, which really is the big deal people think it is.  Anne Russomano and her husband, the owners of Nutley Kia, came to the performance.  I can’t tell you how much this meant to me.  I have never experienced a car company who cares more about their clients than Nutley Kia.  When I’m due for a tune up, I get a reminder phone call and the service is quick and done right the first time.  After getting my car serviced, they call the next week to make sure the car is running smoothly.  Who does that?

 

I still have a goal of singing at the Metropolitan Opera in NYC, Covent Garden, La Scala in Milan.  When I make my Met debut, I can tell you right now that I’m pretty sure Anne Russomano and her husband will be in attendance, and I’ll still be driving a Kia.

 

About Alison Bolshoi

Posted in Voices of Nutley | Comments Off on Alison Bolshoi, Sharing Her Voice With Nutley & The World