By Rob Hochschild
Berklee.edu Editor
May 2001

	Photo by Liz Linder
	Nia's Audio • "No More" (N. Allen, A. Lindal) Listen: slow | fast • "Send in the Clowns" (S. Sondheim) Listen: slow | fast

Vocalist Nia Allen has both talent and timing working in her favor. A star of several college concerts since arriving at Berklee in 1999, the versatile Allen has sung pop, r&b, and jazz at Commencement and Convocation concerts, the highly competitive Singers' Showcase, and the Sarah Vaughan Tribute (see audio link below). But at a time when record sales are dropping, the music that most captivates Allen is a style that is doing well these days.

"The gospel record industry is growing right now," says Allen. "It was harder a few years ago, but gospel music is really reaching a high level. More secular labels are accepting gospel artists. (Singer) Yolanda Adams's last album crossed over and went platinum."

The statistics back up what Allen says. According to SoundScan, sales of contemporary Christian and gospel music rose 18 percent in the first half of 2002 while the music industry reported an overall drop of nine percent. Miraculous though that trend may be, it has nothing to do with why Allen sings gospel. She simply always has.

Raised in Columbus, Ohio, Allen is the daughter of two musicians. Her father is a middle school music teacher and her mother is a church choir director and professional singer. When she was a little girl, Allen says, her mother encouraged her to sing with the church choir, and at the age of four, Allen began singing with a gospel group founded by her mother and aunts. While acknowledging her parents' positive influence, Allen says they never took it easy on her.

"They were harder on me because I'm their child," Allen says. "It was harder being the choir director's daughter. She expected more of me."

Fueled by high expectations, Allen excelled, developed confidence, and eventually landed leading roles in local productions of musicals, such as The Wiz. But Allen didn't see music as a career until the summer after her junior year of high school, when she attended Berklee's Summer Performance Program. After five weeks in Boston, she didn't want to return to Ohio.

"I had to finish my senior year, but I did not want to go back," Allen says. "That's when I knew what I really wanted to do. That's what I want to do, where I want to be, where I want to go. That was the turning point in my lfe."

She also found her mentor that summer, when she heard faculty member Gabrielle Goodman sing.

"I was so amazed, and I switched over to her for my private instructor. I was so inspired," says Allen. "I love her voice, her spirit, everything. She's a beautiful person." As a teacher, Goodman is providing the encouragement and guidance to make Allen a better vocalist.

"She always stretches me to the limit," says Allen. "She would always say, 'Okay, Nia, you have a good voice, we know that, but now we're going to go past that.' She would take me where I was uncomfortable doing something. She would work me in that area until I was comfortable. She gave me the support I needed."

Photo by Liz Linder
Nia's Top Five: Artists Who Have Influenced My Sound • Lalah Hathaway (jazz) • Aretha Franklin (soul/r&b) • Chaka Kahn (funk) • CeCe Winans (gospel) • Whitney Houston's music of ten years ago (pop)

In the time Allen has been under Goodman's tutelage at Berklee, her voice has changed, she says. It's more mature, better supported by breath, and reflects better musical decision making, she says. And singing lead on the stage of the Berklee Performance Center, a 1,200-seat hall, several times, has helped her sharpen her performing skills.

At the same time, Allen is singing gospel music as much as ever. She has been a member of two Berklee gospel groups—Reverence Gospel Choir and Overjoyed—every semester, and has started writing her own gospel songs. "No More," (see link above) is an Allen original that combines gospel with flavors of r&b and pop music. It is a style that she admits is influenced by gospel great CeCe Winans, who has experimented with r&b and other secular music in the past ten years.

While Allen is hopeful about her chances of making a career out of performing, she is wary of the dangers. "The whole music business, even the gospel music business, can be a little flakey, so you've got to be careful. I want to be with good people. I believe a door will open."

A little luck would come in handy, too. Luck of the sort Allen enjoyed during a Singers' Showcase in 2000, when she was scheduled to open the show with a rendition of Oleta Adams's "Easier to Say Goodbye." The plan was for Allen to tune her first note to an introduction played by the bass guitarist but the bass didn't get plugged in until halfway through the song. Allen was in near-panic mode and praying for help when Associate Professor of Ensemble Ken Zambello, also on the stage as arranger and conductor, saved her.

"A beat before I was about to come in, Ken sang the note. I don't know how he got it," says Allen. "Even after the show, he said 'Nia, I don't know where that came from, because I was just guessing.'"

Perhaps Nia Allen got lucky that night. Or perhaps it was a case of divine intervention for a singer who does her share of worship.

Learn more at Nia Allen's website.

	IF YOU ARE HAVING PROBLEMS LISTENING TO ANY AUDIO, VISIT OUR ONLINE TECHNICAL HELP PAGE. All audio and video clips require QuickTime. To protect the rights of artists and performers, all clips are streamed, rather than offered for download.