Today we’d like to introduce you to Cassie Ortiz.
Cassie, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
My name is Casandra Ortiz but I go by Cassie and I am 17 years old. I was born in Fairfax, Virginia but I’ve been living in South Florida since I was 8 years old. My dad has raised me by himself majority of my life as my mom has not really been around since I was about 3 years old.
As I grew up, singing became more and more important to me, especially with my mom not being a part of my life. I remember running around the house when I was little with a head set microphone pretending I was Hannah Montana driving my dad crazy. It wasn’t until I was about 10 that I started becoming a little bit more serious about singing thanks to my dad renting a Music Studio for my birthday party. One of the songs I sang by myself was ‘You Belong with Me’ by Taylor Swift. It was my first time really singing by myself in public and the engineers running the studio were just completely amazed about how easily I matched pitch and how great my tone was.
That was the moment I realized I actually might have a good singing voice. When I was 12 years old a friend invited me to an open mic at the Florida Children’s Theater. The director of the Glee club for the theater happened to be there and after hearing me sing she approached me and told me that I had to audition for her Glee program that year and how much she loved my voice. I decided to audition and actually ended up getting in: from there I decided to start taking voice lessons and that’s pretty much how my singing career got started. Since then my voice has grown tremendously and I’ve performed at venues all across South Florida and New York City. I’ve had the amazing privilege to perform at Carnegie Hall in 2015 with my then voice coach, Michael Soper accompanying me on piano and The Rolex Horse Show in Central Park, New York in 2017. In South Florida I’ve graced the stage at venues such as The Parker Play House, Hard Rock Cafe in Miami, Kravis Center, Funky Biscuit and Terra Fermata to name a few.
I have participated and won first place in many local talent/vocal competitions such as, South Florida Kids Got Talent, American Equestrians Got Talent, Boca’s Got Talent, Loxahatchee’s Got Talent and the South Florida Fair vocal competition.
I am also involved in Theater productions with local community theaters and at my school, Palm Beach Central High School. Some of my biggest roles include Janet Van de Graaf in “The Drowsy Chaperone” (2018) and Crystal in “Little Shop of Horrors” (2017).
Currently I am the lead singer for a newly formed pop/rock band called Exigent, together with Lead Guitarist- Jacob Elalouf, drummer- Steven Salguero and Bassist/Vocals- Jessica Elalouf. We are working on local performing opportunities as well as writing original music to record and put out an EP in 2019.
My story is just getting started and I have so much gratitude and love towards my dad, Joe Ortiz. His support and tireless work to help live my dream of becoming an artist. As well as all the friends, teacher, mentors and my fans that have supported me throughout my growth as an artist and a person. Thank you to all and stay tuned…there is more to come.
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
My art is about expressing myself and my feelings. Hoping to be an inspiration or a guiding light to others, especially during these times where we are seeing so much cruelty with bullying and so many lost lives. I am able to live through my performances by expressing all my emotions, whether I am singing or acting or dancing. It doesn’t matter if I am singing a cover song or my own original song. Getting on a stage changes everything for me and I hope that other females’ other teenagers empower themselves to not hold back and know that art is an outlet, whether its painting or creating pottery or playing an instrument. For me, it’s mainly singing and sharing my voice with as many people as possible.
What responsibility, if any, do you think artists have to use their art to help alleviate problems faced by others? Has your art been affected by issues you’ve concerned about?
I believe our role as artists is to tell our stories while remaining humble. To be human and show the world our emotions in the rawest form possible through art. So that others might find inspiration while we ourselves are fighting through life like everyone does.
My most amazing moments in my young career have been when someone that has listened to me sing approaches me with a huge smile to tell me how much they enjoyed my voice and how they got goose bumps while listening to me sing. When that 4-year-old can’t stop staring at me or won’t let go of my hand as I sing a Disney Princess song for their birthday and I can see in their eyes that this is a moment they will never forget. When I sing the National Anthem at Marlins Stadium and while getting to my seat I can see all the patriotic faces, smiling and feeling good about my rendition of our National Anthem while enjoying the freedom of watching a baseball game with their families.
Those are the things that make me love being in the role of an artist and hoping that it will be a lifelong role with an impactful meaning and message for both myself and others.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.cassieortiz.com
- Phone: 917-587-6919
- Email: cassie@cassieortizmusic.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cassieortizmusic/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CassieOrtizMusic/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/CassieOMusic
- Other: www.exigent.com
Image Credit:
Andrew Duany Photography
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