If actors are born actors, singers are also born singers. Kay Habana, another promising Filipina, is on her way to the top following the dictates of her heart and passion for music that lead her to where she’s truly destined. Kay, without doubt, is fame-bound.
The sultry singer believes she was born to sing. When she was a toddler, she was responded audibly to musical tones rather than to alphabetical instructions. She would also unconsciously dance to the music from the radio or mimic performers on the boob tube.
Kay was barely in her primary grade when she was brought to Canada to join her mother and sister and she brought with her a passion for singing. Earnestly motivated by her constant winning every possible amateur singing contest, she continued to excel academically with unprecedented honors during college when she finished Communication Arts, major in Journalism with a minor in Italian.
The fragile-looking singer became a member of the Panday Tinig Choral Ensemble of Montreal which opened doors to more prestigious venues such as La Place des Arts, The Pollack Hall, and the Oscar Peterson Concert Hall in Canada. And in her intense desire to challenge herself, she entered into another competition and proved that she’s more than internationally competitive after having had bested a number of equally promising talents and emerged as the only Filipino to win the National Songfest of Canada.
Despite being deprived of any formal vocal training to be an accomplished coloratura soprano, Kay could effectively hits every note she sings and soulfully renders pulsating sounds from her powerful windpipes effortlessly producing a vocal resonance of sublime quality.
Consistently in-demand in various events in the tri-state area, Kay has performed at the Springtime Serenade, the Kalayaan Hall of the Philippine Center in New York City, Alice Tully hall of the Lincoln Center, the world famous Carnegie Hall, and practically in every hotel and venue in the east coast. She has also been involved in a number of Filipino-American community organizations and fund raising campaigns while simultaneously honing and perfecting her craft.
Incidentally, Kay has also the privilege to perform with the Prince of Philippine Pop Opera Jonathan Badon and the Philippine music master Ryan Cayabyab during the 2005 World Musikahan.
The Songbird of Guimaras has indeed landed on a level in her career where its apex is almost within reach. Undaunted and unperturbed, she gives out all her heart and soul to achieve what she’s aimed for and get hold of that elusive key to success.
Queried about the predicaments that hinder the realization of her dream, she readily quips, “I am not actually in a rush. I know I still have a lot to learn and experience but the scarcity of substantial projects and enriching opportunities keep my progress at a standstill.”
“But I’m not losing hope. I know the right break will come my way at the right time. I could feel it!” Kay said outright positivity.
While majority of established sopranos maintain oversized figures to provide them with power and agility as supplied by their huge diaphragm and windpipes, Kay’s frame can be mistaken for either an anorexic ramp mannequin or an undernourished artist. “I’m comfortable with my body weight and size. I can’t imagine myself singing with a heavy weight. That’s not me. I have been used to what and how I am,” she said.
Gifted with an unabated mellifluous voice and velvety resonance, Kay Habana is one artist who delivers her aria with a deep sense of essential connection and soulful conveyance effortlessly moving her audience into a level of enticing persuasion. Rarely one finds a soprano with both the elements of physical beauty and passionate vocal range. There’s a thin line that divides her fragile frame and the raging emotion encompassing the entirety of her song when she performs.
Though a beautiful voice is essential for a singer it is always a welcoming sight and a great plus factor when endowed with a refreshing face and statuesque figure which Kay both peculiarly possesses.
Being innately emotional and dedicated to her craft, Kay masterfully renders her piece with genuine passion directly reflecting her soul as a singer. Undoubtedly, there is depth, texture, fluidity, and charisma in her performance aptly coupled with an enticing visual silhouette of her fragile frame.
In the advent of upcoming singers and classic performers, Kay Habana keeps herself far different from her contemporaries with her distinct sound that permeates in the air and inevitably moves and touches listeners. Her vocal timbre has such unique quality that could reach her audience as effortlessly rendered.
Kay is unmistakably one sensitive dramatic soprano. She doesn’t only create her peculiar image as a singer but unintentionally brings forth the very spirit of her emotion and the real essence of the message of her song. The infectious outpouring of a gamut of emotions when she performs, especially when rendering Tagalog love songs and kundiman, is quite uncontrolled, unimaginably creating a great impact among her audience.
Kay Habana is a striking bundle of an eye-catcher and a multifaceted talent rolled into one. Her presence cannot be ignored once she enters a room. She possesses that debilitating charm concealed behind her electrifying presence that is the sine qua non in every social gathering. There is always that sort of frenzied spontaneity in her speech and subtle enticement in her body locomotion highlighting her fragile form and classic bearing.
With chiseled facial bone structure and soft appealing features armed with a voice seemingly borrowed from celestial beings, the sultry singer remains unaffected by the engaging praises and mounting recognitions she has been accorded lately. Just last March, her enviable talent was duly acknowledged by the Pan American Concerned citizens Action League, Inc. (PACCAL) for her Excellence in Performing Arts (Solo / Soprano) during the latter’s annual celebration of Women’s History Month and during the recent PAPI event, she was crowned Miss Performing Arts 2013.
Close chum cum manager-publicist Ria Serrano, through her AIR Entertainment outfit, didn’t have second thoughts producing Kay’s concerts and booked her in various performances especially this holiday season. After her successful shows with veteran Filipino balladeer Miguel Vera aptly tagged “A Night with Miguel” and seasoned singer John Pio via “Christmas Senti-Classical,” Kay is slated to mount another much-awaited performance in “Christmas Klassic” on Friday, December 20 at the Kalayaan Hall of the Philippine Center in New York City.
Given considerable time with consistent training and constant exposures, Kay Habana, having all the makings of a great coloratura soprano, is bound to be at par with the world renowned icons in the field like Maria Callas, Joan Sutherland, Kristen Flagstad, or Dame Elizabeth Schwarzkopf.
How long will the waiting last? Not long, for sure. Kay Habana is destined to break the old myth, “It isn’t over until the fat lady sings,” to “It isn’t over ‘til this statuesque singer breaks the glass ceiling!”
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