OLATUJA
Photos: Erin Patrice O’Brien
When St. Louis native vocalist, composer, educator OLATUJA sings, the world listens. Her aural artistry is a wondrous weave of jazz, blues, gospel, classical, pop and Afropop musical genres. Olatuja’s embrace of those sonic stylings have enabled her to work with a wide variety of musicians - from jazz superstars Chris Botti, Christian McBride, Dianne Reeves, and her husband, African jazz/Afrobeat bassist Michael Olatuja, to R&B and gospel legends Chaka Khan and BeBe Winans. Simply put: We can expect a myriad of musical projects from this ever-evolving vocalist. Olatuja’s second release, Intuition: Songs from the Minds of Women, featured selections composed by women including Sade, Linda Creed, Kate Bush, Tracy Chapman and Angela Bofill.
After double majoring in Veterinary Medicine and Music at the University of Missouri, Olatuja moved to New York City in 2005, and later earned her Masters degree in Classical Voice/Opera from the Manhattan School of Music. Olatuja is also an exceptional educator. She’s taught at several schools including, The University of Texas, The University of Illinois, Baylor University, Snow College, and at several schools in Turkey, Serbia and Japan. She is also a LPI certified Life Coach specializing in Vocal Empowerment - created the Vocal Breakthrough Academy: a 5 week online program where singers and non-singers who are looking to break through self-doubt and comparison learn how to authentically connect with themselves and others through singing so they can transform their voices while using singing as a vehicle for personal-development.
“I'm the type of artist that wants to break the barriers and break the lines down between genres.” OLATUJA
