Music has always been a part of Hilary’s life – she went on her first audition at age 9 to sing the national anthem for a Toronto Maple Leafs Hockey game and that was the start of her musical journey! After a number of different singing teachers, it was at age 14 that Hilary started working in a more serious way with vocal coaches. Through regular private lessons and master classes and her classes at Etobicoke School of the Arts, Hilary continues to develop her vocal abilities.
Hilary’s musical influences have been many – she loves all types of music from pop to rock to rnb to jazz and big band, country and rap. She loves a wide range of artists from all types of music – Celine Dion, Norah Jones, Michael Buble, Sarah McLachlan, Kanye West, Alicia Keyes, Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift and Justin Timberlake to artists like Diana Ross and the Supremes, Whitney Houston, Barbara Streisand, Eva Cassidy and Aretha Franklin.
In 2006 at age 15, Hilary graduated from teacher recitals and jumped onto the public performance stage and her love for performance was born! She loves the rush and excited feeling that the whole world is watching her. She wants the audience to understand what she is feeling, to feel it with her and enjoy the music that she creates with only her vocal cords. Hilary started performing in as many competitions, festivals and other performances as she could get involved in, from the Rising Star Competition at the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto to Rotary and Kiwanis competitions to making the rounds of various fairs in the Greater Toronto area and Southern Ontario. She has performed in all sorts of places, from a flat bed truck in the middle of a parking lot, to inside a tent or barn in the fairgrounds, and on a large outdoor stage! The judges have praised Hilary for her lovely agile voice with good dynamics, beautiful performances and for the way that she draws the audiences into her music. Hilary has won many competitions and received prizes, medals, trophies and honorariums – but most of all received the excitement and joy of performing. This year Hilary was a member of her school choir as they performed in 3 shows of the production of Broadway Rocks at Roy Thomson Hall with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Hilary also performs as a volunteer vocalist with the Sheraton Cadwell group of orchestras and has recorded two songs on a compilation CD with them – coming out in February 2009.
To enhance her performance abilities, Hilary has also worked for the past several years on her acting and dancing through programs such as the Triple Threat Program at the Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts in Toronto and dance classes in ballet, jazz, modern and hip hop at Martha Hicks School of Ballet.
Hilary will never forget the day in 2007 that she went into the Metalworks recording studio with her vocal coach, Julie Forrester, to record her first song. It was a cover version of Ordinary Miracle by Sarah McLachlan for a Christmas CD for her coach’s students. For Hilary, hearing her voice recorded for the first time was a type of miracle that spurred her ambition to start writing her own songs and to record her own CD.
Hilary started her songwriting journey in 2008 as she joined forces with Mark Zubek, to co-write and record the two songs, Tell the Next Girl and It Can’t Be With You. Songwriting is an opportunity for Hilary to tell her own story and to develop as an artist and musician. Hilary enjoys the opportunity to share her emotions and life in another form than just simply talking about them. Being part of the creative process and then listening to the final product is an amazing experience!
Hilary is continuing work on her first CD with Mark Zubek which she plans to launch in the fall of 2009 – stay tuned!!