Krista Sher Selico has released her highly anticipated EP Big Beautiful Music and we caught up with her for a chat.
Big Beautiful Music’ is your first collection of symphonic recordings. When did the idea for the EP first begin, and what did you want listeners to discover about you through the songs?
Big Beautiful Music began as a simple, wonderful opportunity to record three Puccini arias with a full orchestra. The project was initially proposed to me by my voice teacher and producer on the Puccini tracks, Reid Bruton. At that point, I was coming off an extended break from singing; I simply wasn’t sure where I wanted to head next. Although I had been singing and training professionally my entire life, I hadn’t yet fully discovered my clear identity as an artist, even while I was experimenting with blending classical music into visual content.
The remaining tracks—Verdi’s Ernani, involami and an original arrangement of the Bible verse The Lord’s Prayer by composer Nathan Wang—came later as my artistic vision took shape. In fact, I had already begun recording what will be my second album: a collection of original pop-classical compositions performed with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. While those original works are still awaiting release, it felt natural to release this collection of symphonic arias first. Classical music is my foundation, and I wanted listeners to experience the root of where my artistic voice begins.
You’ve spoken about wanting to “strip away the diva” and find the heartbeat of these pieces. Opera can sometimes feel quite distant or intimidating to people who haven’t grown up around it, so how did you approach making these famous arias feel more intimate and accessible without losing what makes them so special?
With deep respect for the legendary singers who paved the way, “stripping away the diva” for me is really about shedding the armor of idealism and allowing these pieces to become new again. When you’re dealing with works of this magnitude, it is so easy to hide behind technical precision. I wanted to bypass all of that and just be raw. By leading with vulnerability rather than the pursuit of perfection, my entire approach shifted—it transformed these massive, intimidating arias into intimate, shared secrets.
You recorded much of the EP in Los Angeles with a full symphony orchestra. What was it like hearing your voice alongside the orchestra for the first time, and was there a particular moment during those sessions where you thought, “This is exactly what I imagined”?
Feeling my voice with a full symphony orchestra always brings that distinct moment where I can feel the whole record come together—the precise instant where I pause and think, yes, it’s all here.
The session at Eastwood Stage were an absolute whirlwind. The orchestra had already been tracking for a few hours by the time I stepped up to record. We began with “O mio babbino caro,” and the second the orchestra hit that opening phrase, goosebumps set in. When I sang those first few notes, everything settled into place. My voice naturally clicks with a live orchestra in a way it honestly sometimes doesn’t with digital tracks—my whole body instantly remembers what to do.
These are pieces that have been performed by generations of incredible singers. When you approach something as well known as ‘O Mio Babbino Caro’ or ‘Vissi D’arte’, how do you find space to make it your own?
The first thing is letting go of pretense. Allowing myself to be authentic rather than trying to duplicate past recordings allows my voice to be truly free.
You grew up surrounded by music, with your mum managing the Orpheum Theatre and opera also forming part of your family history through Marie Selika Williams. How much has that musical heritage shaped the artist you’ve become?
I’m not sure there is any way to really know the answer to that question. Would I be who I am today regardless of my past? I’m not sure. But I can say that I am deeply inspired by the journey. Whenever I feel unsure, I just feel—how could so much have led me to this exact point if I wasn’t supposed to be here?
You were only 13 when you signed your first record deal, but the label wanted to take you towards R&B rather than the classical music you loved. Looking back now, what did that experience teach you about trusting your own instincts and knowing the kind of artist you wanted to be?
I think that was probably the beginning of my journey to hearing and listening to the spirit within me rather than what is outside of me. It’s like a muscle that must be strengthened over time. Then you look up one day, and you can simply observe who you have proven yourself to be.
Your next album, ‘La Figlia’, moves into original, self-written pop-classical music. After interpreting some of opera’s most famous works on ‘Big Beautiful Music’, what has it been like turning the focus towards telling your own stories through songs you’ve written yourself?
Although Big Beautiful Music was released first, I had actually been composing songs far before recording the arias album. Putting myself in the shoes of the composer in many ways allowed me to free myself as a singer and truly become an artist.
You’ve described video-game scores as essentially the opera stage of this generation, which is such an interesting idea. What is it about gaming music that you think connects so naturally with opera, and when did you first realise there was a bridge between those two worlds?
It all comes down to storytelling! Opera, at its core, is storytelling set to music. Video game scores do the exact same thing, but in an even more immersive way—because the player actually becomes part of the world and directly influences how the story unfolds.
