Ashalen Sims

Ashalen Sims is in her first season with OperaCréole. She has served as rehearsal accompanist for several operas including Dialogues of the Carmelites, The Old Maid and the Thief, The Pirates of Penzance, and The Marriage of Figaro. She works as a staff accompanist at Loyola University, where she plays primarily for singers in lessons, recitals, and masterclasses.

 

Ashalen earned a BM in piano performance from Howard University in 2010 under the tutelage of Dr. Charles Timbrell, and in 2016 followed with an MM in accompanying as a student of Valerie Trujillo at Florida State University. Between her degree programs, she worked as a freelance vocal accompanist at Kansas State University for three years. Two summers ago she was a studio pianist for La Musica Lirica, a summer program in Novafeltria, Italy.

 

In addition to her work at Loyola, she also operates a small teaching studio with special focus on teaching piano to singers.