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Tshombe Selby is a native of Manteo, North Carolina. His first introduction to music came when he convinced his parents to let him join the youth choir at church. He was 5 years old. His musical talents and his willingness to share it were recognized immediately. They were recognized not only by the church, but his school, the community and everyone who heard him sing. By age 15 he had become Minister of Music for his church, taught himself to play the piano and had performed at countless school and community events.
After graduating high school, Tshombe received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Music Performance from Elizabeth City State University. While at the University he excelled as a tenor soloist in the University Choir and held the office of choir president for several years. With the choir Tshombe toured throughout the United States, Africa and performed for NC State Senators and the United States Congress. It was through his experience with the choir that he discovered his love for opera.
During the spring of 2013, Tshombe was invited to apprentice with Nico Castel and Carol Castel at the New York Opera Studio. He moved to New York making his Carnegie Hall debut in the Stern Auditorium in February of 2015 as a tenor soloist with Distinguished Concerts International New York performing the tenor solos in the oratorio The Exodus written by E Robinson. Among the roles Selby has performed include King Kasper in Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors, Count Alamaviva in Rossini's The Barber of Seville, Lensky in Tchaikovshy's Eugene Onegin, the Duke in Verdi's Rigoletto and Alfred in Strauss Jr's Die Fledermaus.
April 27, 2019 New York, NY - Today is the day! Opening of Götterdämmerung, the crown jewel of Wagner's Ring, at The Metropolitan Opera! So much to be pumped about around the opera house today but, in the chorus, there's another reason to be excited: there are 7 members of our chorus making the Met debuts!
Huge congratulations to Adam Bonanni, Michael Celentano, Kevin Courtemanche, Vincent Grana, Enrico Lagasca, Nathaniel Joseph Mattingly, Tshombe Selby & David Schmidt. Welcome to the Met! It's been a true pleasure to sing with you!
Photo: Ken Howard / Met Opera
Feb 19, 2019 from The Lost Colony.
On Saturday, February 2nd, The Opera came to the Outer Banks and performed to a full crowd at First Flight High School.
The performance was brought to the stage by the local nonprofit, Elizabeth R & Company, as well as the Bryan Cultural Series. La Traviata showcased the talent of Manteo native and The Lost Colony alumni, Tshombe Selby, who is pursuing a career in opera.
Selby played Alfredo, and his powerful, tenor voice was undeniably perfect. Sarah Cooper played Violetta and the two voices created a night of Opera perfection.
Many The Lost Colony alumni were involved, including; Rob Jenkins, David Miller, Nikki Conley, John Adams, Buddy McCown, Christopher Clemmons, Barbara Hird, lebame houston and, of course, Tshombe.
Feb 10, 2019
Thank you to Tshombe Selby, tenor soloist, for blessing us today! #myhomeisoverjordan #spirituals pic.twitter.com/qNwKSZ4k8a
— Sixth Mount Zion (@SixthMount) February 10, 2019
Feb 2, 2019
Opera comes to the Outer Banks in the form of La Traviata! Former Manteo resident, Tshombe Selby, plays the lead role along with other members from the NY Opera Studio, the Old Dominion University Orchestra and local singers in the chorus and in the orchestra. This event at First Flight High School is free and open to all.
This performance is the rescheduled event from Hurricane Florence.
From The New York Times By Ted Alcorn Nov. 16, 2018
Change has come to the Metropolitan Opera House. The largest repertory opera in the world is in the throes of innovation, simulcasting performances in HD theaters, introducing Sunday matinees, premiering modern operas and updating the classics — all attempts to bend to the new reality rather than be broken by it.
Whether these innovations will put the Met on a new trajectory is unclear, but one aspect of the institution remains steadfast: the ushers, an eclectic group whose tenures can stretch back decades.
With more direct interaction with patrons than anyone else, they are both witnesses to the change and an embodiment of something enduring and irreplaceable about the opera-going experience.
As a shift begins, they pass into the cloakroom to put on their uniforms — tuxedos with burgundy lapels, worn shiny from use. Forty-two work any given performance, each at once a rule keeper, hand holder, problem solver, diplomat.
In early to work a daytime dress rehearsal last month, Tshombe Selby walked briskly down a backstage hallway to the staff cafeteria for a quick bite. A North Carolina native, the 34-year-old has been an usher for five years, and on this day he had already turned on the charm. He navigated nimbly past other distinct tribes of opera staff — stagehands in their rugged work clothes, chorus members in period costume, square-jawed security guards — with smiles for all.
When he speaks, he tilts his head back and looks down regally, his huge frame stuffed snugly into his tuxedo. Though his voice is mellifluous and his movements gentle, it’s no surprise he has worked as a bouncer. “My aunt has a saying,” he said with a grin. “Don’t let the smooth taste fool you.”
Read more: The Met Reinvents Itself, Yet the Ushers Remain the Same
by Kip Tabb October 28, 2018 - The Outer Banks Voice
Tshombe Selby is a local kid who was always displayed incredible levels of talent as a singer – specifically a tenor, in opera.
Five years after leaving the Outer Banks for New York City to experience the training he felt he needed for a career in opera, he’ll be returning. He’s coming back to play the role of Alfredo—the central male character in Verdi’s tragic opera, La Traviata. The performance was scheduled for Sept 15, but has to be rescheduled due to Hurricane Florence.
Traveling back to the Outer Banks from New York may be one of his shorter journeys. He is on the short list of international up and coming stars in the world of opera and classical music, and the invitations he has received for various festivals confirm that.
He spent a few weeks in May and June at the NUOVA (Newly United Operatic Vocalists Association) Opera Festival in Edmonton, Alberta. Then followed that with a week in Kiev at the Bouquet Kiev Stage—the bouquet referring to the flowering of young talent.
Read more: Tshombe Selby | Talented Outer Banks Local Studies in NYC
October 5 2018 - Murfreesboro, NC
Friends of Music Artist Series Concert Featuring Tenor, Tshombe Selby will be at the Turner Auditorium on the Chowan University campus.
Thsombe Selby has performed many roles in the New York Metropolitan area including: King Kasper, Amahl and the Night Visitors, Count Almaviva, Barber of Seville, and Lensky, Eugene Onegin, the Duke in Rigoletto and Alfred in Die Fledermaus. In the upcoming season, Tshombe will sing the role of Alfredo in La Traviata, record his first CD, and concertize throughout the United States and Europe. Mr Selby continues his studies with Carol Castel, and with a team of coaches from her studio, the Metropolitan Opera and the Juilliard School.
By Kip Tabb on September 7, 2018
from The Outer Banks Voice
Returning to the Outer Banks as the lead tenor in the tragic opera La Traviata on Saturday, September 15, Tshombe Selby is coming back to where his journey began.
The journey has taken him from Manteo, where he grew up, to Elizabeth City State University where he studied vocal performance and finally to Manhattan where he is honing his voice and acting skills at the New York Opera Studio.
New York City may be one stop along the way, though. This spring he spent a couple of weeks in Edmonton, Alberta, performing in three roles. At the end of August he was in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, performing with an international array of up and coming young artists at the Bouquet Kiev Stage.
The journey, though, began in Manteo.
“I started singing at Haven Creek Missionary Baptist Church.” Selby said. “I really enjoyed church and music. My aunt and grandmother were in the choir and I thought it was the coolest thing that they were standing and singing when everyone else was sitting.”
It was at the church that he learned to love music. “The raw emotion and joy it could provide people,” he recalled.
June 15, 2018 - by Colin MacLean, from Gig City
The aura of Maria Callas stills hovers over opera in the last half of the 20th Century.
She was “La Davina” – plain in person but beautiful on stage. Her acting may have been minimal but she dominated every production in which she appeared. Famous for her wobbling high notes, she seldom performed (especially in New York) without being greeted by boos. The unforgiving press continuously savaged her while Callas brought a whole new audience to opera – through a commanding and elegant presence and a clarity of character and delivery. She invigorated the art form with a freshness not seen for a century. Her fans adored her.
She lived hard, loved fast (and often) and died young. Callas sang herself out in just 12 years (1953 to 1965) and died in 1977 at the age of 53.
In the 1970s, near the end of her life, she gave a series of master classes at Julliard. In 1995, Terence McNally (something of a master himself) wrote a tribute to the star in a fictional version of the sessions. The result, called Master Class, is now in production at La Cite Francophone until June 17 as part of the Spring Festival from Edmonton’s feisty Opera NUOVA’s opera training program.
by Kip Tabb from The Common Good, Outer Banks April 27, 2018
Someday, when Tshombe Selby is a household name, the 200 or so people gathered at All Saints Episcopal Church on Sunday to hear his recital will be able to say, “I heard him perform before he was famous.” Accompanied by Violetta Zabbi on piano, his performance of An Afternoon of Spirituals and Arias created a memorable afternoon of music at its finest.
Growing up in Manteo and beginning his career on the Outer Banks, Selby has performed locally in the past. He has always had a rich, powerful and beautiful voice. Now, however, that power and beauty has been harnessed and turned into a musical instrument of subtly and nuance.
With almost 20 selections over the course of the recital, it’s difficult to choose one performance that stands out. However, the interpretation of Verdi’s De miei bollenti spiriti seemed to highlight many of the elements of Selby’s skills.
An aria from La Traviata, it is a love song, the title translating to Wild My Dream of Ecstasy. The triumph that Alfredo, the male lead, feels in being with his love, was wonderfully portrayed by Selby. What made this particular piece stand out, though, was the interplay between the vocals and piano.
The arrangement Selby and Zabbi presented created a feeling of a duet, as though the piano was the second voice. The blending of piano and voice created the image of joy and passion that made the aria feel alive.
Certainly Selby’s ability to convey the meaning of the songs through facial expressions and body language was a key part to understanding what was happening. His aria selections were invariably in foreign languages—Russian, French and Italian—and his expressive manner of enacting his selections told much of the story.
From Joe Lamb Jr. Blog, April 23, 2018
An Afternoon Treat in Southern Shores
Tshombe Selby is a man who is going places. After being treated to an afternoon performance at All Saint Episcopal Church in Southern Shores, there can be no doubt that this is an artist who is going to make a name for himself.
And he’s local. Well, not local anymore since he now lives and works out of NYC, but there is no doubt that his roots are on the Outer Banks—Manteo to be exact.
If there was any doubt about that it was laid to rest by the SRO audience that fills date rectory for the recital.
Selby has always had a rich, powerful voice, but what is coming to the fore now is the ability to modulate that power. Even singing softly he still fills the room with music, but what stood out in his performance on Sunday was the ability to use the full dynamic range of the music.
He is also animated in his recital—using hand gestures, facial expressions and body language to tell the tale of the songs he is performing. Since many of the selections he chose for the recital were in a variety of foreign languages—Russian, Italian and French—that ability made the afternoon that much more enjoyable.
The title of the recital was “An Afternoon of Spirituals and Arias.” Tshombe has been championing the American spiritual as a classical form of music for some time and his interpretations of them create a new appreciation of what are often considered something akin to folk music.
He had some fun with the spiritual as well, getting the audience to clap out the rhythm of “You Better Mind.”
Certainly the local crowd was there to cheer him on. Still the two standing ovations were well-deserved in this case—and he did have two encores ready to go.
Accompanied by Violetta Zabbi on piano, this was truly an outstanding afternoon of music.
From The Common Good, Outer Banks, Sunday, April 22, 2018
Be captivated by Tshombe Selby when he performs at All Saints Episcopal Church, Southern Shores, Sunday, April 22 at 4 p.m. This event marks the second performance of the sixth season for the Don and Catharine Bryan Cultural Series.
“You may not know the name Tshombe Selby, but if you’ve attended any number of local events over the past few years, you’ve likely heard him sing,” commented Series Chairman John Tucker. “And, wow, can he sing!”
Tshombe Selby is a young man possessing a remarkable vocal talent, and he has repeatedly and graciously volunteered that talent at local events and in support of community causes. His talent and hard work earned him the opportunity for a full year of uninterrupted opera training in New York under the tutelage of operatic trainers Nico and Carol Castel. In February 2015 he sang his first solo at Carnegie Hall in New York. His dream of becoming a professional opera singer came true!
Read more: Tshombe Selby, An Afternoon Of Spirituals And Arias
Feb 13, 2018 from Press Connects
The Phelps Mansion Museum (191 Court St. in Binghamton) will celebrate Black History Month with a concert of African-American spirituals from tenor Tshombe Selby and pianist Ishmael Wallace at 3 p.m. Sunday.
Selby, a native of Manteo, North Carolina, was first introduced to music in church where he began singing with the youth choir at age 5. At 15, he became minister of music for his church, taught himself to play the gospel keyboard, and performed at school and community events.
He received a bachelor of arts degree in music performance from Elizabeth City State University, where he was tenor soloist in the University Choir. Performance experience included tours of the United States and Africa as well as singing for North Carolina state senators and the U.S. Congress.
In 2013, Selby apprenticed with Nico Castel and his wife, Carol Castel, of the New York Opera Studio. He gave his solo Carnegie Hall debut in the Stein Auditorium in February 2015 as a tenor soloist with DCINY in “The Exodus,” an oratorio by E. Robinson.
by Jeffrey Williams for New York Concert Review, New York, NY - Feb 22, 2015
Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY) presents Two Cultures, One Dream
Jonathan Griffith, DCINY Artistic Director and principal conductor; Jie Yi, Debut Conductor
Earnestine Rodgers Robinson, visiting composer; Heather Sorenson, arranger, orchestrator and accompanist
Ana Isabel Lazo, soprano; Ting Li, tenor; Tshombe Selby, tenor; Chai-Lun Yueh, baritone; Brian Wahlstrom, baritone and narrator; James T. Meeks and Michelle R. McKissack, narrators; Jiaju Shen, pipa
Distinguished Concerts Orchestra; Distinguished Concerts Singers International
Stern Auditorium, Carnegie Hall, New York, NY
February 16, 2015
Two Cultures, One Dream was the title of the concert presented by Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY) on February 16, 2015. While the “two cultures” were only implied as East and West, the “one dream” was explicit – freedom from oppression and the triumph of the people against their oppressors. With singers from Connecticut, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Washington, Canada, China, New Zealand, Taiwan, and “individuals from around the globe,” the stage was set for that at which DCINY excels – the “big show.”
by David Brower and David Schulman - DEC 8, 2012 from North Carolina Public Radio
The first installment in the WUNC Pop-Up Music Club features Tshombe Selby from Manteo, NC.
This weekend and next, we’re trying something new here at WUNC. We’re calling it the Pop-Up Music Club. It’s a kind of mobile performance adventure, where we hit the road to hear from working North Carolina musicians — up-close and in their element.
We’ll hear them play impromptu gigs on their home turf. We’ll hear the stories they tell in church, and at the bar. And we’ll hear how the culture of the places they call home shapes their music.
To start the series, David Schulman takes us to a part of the state more famous for its history and fishing than for its music … Manteo, North Carolina.
David Schulman: Those lapping waves you hear are not a sound effect. We are at a weathered pier, jutting in the water off of Roanoke Island. A short walk from here is where the Brits first tried, and failed, to settle the new world. This pier connects to a boardwalk that doubles as the backstage for The Lost Colony Production, Paul Green’s outdoor drama that tells the story of that first English settlement. We’re now headed stage right because I want you to meet a remarkable singer. His name is Tshombe Selby. Other musicians on Roanoke Island hope for big things from him. For now, though, he’s working several jobs, including shifts as a bouncer and his job here as leader of the choir at The Lost Colony.
