Daelyn Calloway, who is a student of the Ravinia Lawndale Family Music School choir program, is already sharing her voice far beyond her community—and on one of the top professional stages for a singer—at the young age of 12. Her most recent experience began earlier this month at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, where she is singing as the First Genie in The Magic Flute. She previously performed in the Lyric’s 2019/20 productions of Dead Man Walking and The Queen of Spades as a member of the children’s chorus, and this spring she will be returning to sing in Tosca.
Daelyn Calloway and Jade Maze
Besides her hard work and dedication to thank for her success, Calloway also has her Lawndale instructor, Ms. Jade Maze, as she gave the singer her first exposure to this form of theater. She began her opera journey with Maze in Ravinia’s Opera for the Young performances on the summer Kids Concert series, singing in three productions between 2017 and 2019. “Ms. Jade helped me a lot with operas so that I can get started in my opera career, and she was there for me a lot and she supported me,” Calloway said.
“We’d work on musicianship and scales and songs of all kinds. I was surprised and impressed at how focused on singing she was at a young age. She was truly curious, and she still is all these years later. One of her phenomenal character traits is that she is not afraid of challenges. If the opportunity sparks her curiosity, she does not see limits,” Maze said.
Calloway’s mother, Janice Warren, agrees and appreciates Maze’s positive influence on her daughter. “Ms. Jade is such a stern and firm teacher; they’ve had their little bouts with Daelyn not wanting to work hard, but Ms. Jade has pushed her to work hard and has given Daelyn so many opportunities to sing,” Warren shared.
But were it not for Calloway singing every song on the radio when she was younger, she might not even be receiving these singing opportunities. Warren recalls her daughter singing all the time and asking to sing at school. She decided to look into Ravinia’s program opportunities as she did with her two older children who, like Calloway, wanted to explore music in an educational setting. Warren still remembers being blown away by her daughter’s initial singing audition for the program.
Calloway performing at Ravinia’s 2021 “Magic of Music” Golf Outing fundraiser
“At her audition, there were only four children at the time. On audition day, those kids did not show up, but at 7 years old, Daelyn did, and she stood up there so nervous,” Warren recalled. “I thought, ‘Oh, my god, they left her all alone to sing,’ but she tore the roof off the place. We were blown away because we had no idea.”
Warren explained that her daughter would sing in the car, but never did solos until that day—she realized that her daughter had true talent. Calloway has since loved her time being a part of the Ravinia Lawndale Family Music School and has grown exponentially as a singer. “A great lesson that I learned while in the program is to never give up because it could be hard learning new music sometimes, but the outcome is great,” Calloway said.
Calloway performing at Ravinia’s 2021 Golf Outing fundraiser
And she has not stopped performing since that first audition. She performs at her church, Ravinia Festival events like Opera for the Young, the Lyric Opera, Chicago Children’s Choir, and more. All those performances have allowed her to sing different styles of music, which has provided enriching experiences not only for her but for her entire family as well.
“My family did not know anything about opera, so she kind of forced the family into opera because we go and support everything that Daelyn does, so we’re enjoying it. The opera exposure for the family has been great,” Warren said.
As for her time performing with the Lyric Opera, Calloway is thrilled and was initially shocked when she was cast in the company’s productions. “I was very surprised because I had to pick up the music over the weekend and I did not think I could do it, but I was excited that I got the part because now I know that all the hard work I had to put in for the past three auditions finally paid off,” Calloway reflected.
Although she has been a part of other operas that she loves, her current role in The Magic Flute is extra special because it’s her first named role. “It’s harder at the Lyric, but I feel like I’m learning a lot. Some parts of a song were a little more challenging than others, but my experience has been great,” Calloway said.
Left to right: Pavel Petrov (Tamino), Daelyn Calloway (1st Genie), Henry Lombardo (2nd Genie), and Elyssa Hall (3rd Genie) in the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s current production of The Magic Flute. (Photo courtesy of Lyric Opera of Chicago)
Besides her work in opera, she is expanding her musical expertise. She recently joined a school program called Rock Band in which she plays the bass. “We have the opportunity to play instruments or sing, and I decided to do both because I feel like it would be fun to sing and play the bass,” Calloway said.
Calloway also writes her own music and has even recorded an original song at a family friend’s music studio. Her hunger for musical knowledge shows anyone how important music is to the 12-year-old. “Music is important to me because I can express myself through it and I don’t think I can do it any other way. I like learning,” the young singer said.
Calloway is very excited about her future and her music career and already knows what she envisions for herself in five years. “I want to be a really famous singer and I want to write my own songs and do opera and musical theater on the side,” she said.