The New Talent Explosion is getting underway this tomorrow night.

Cyrelah Raynor and Khalilah Smith spoke to The Royal Gazette about their operatic experiences and their hopes and dreams.

Ms Raynor has been singing with Marcelle Clamens for one-and- a-half years, but took a break to further her studies in Criminology.

She said singing opera was something that she had always wanted to do and has enjoyed the challenges associated with learning.

?I was singing all of my life, but it was never really perfected,? said Ms Raynor and after a friend joined she decided that she would too.

?I decided that I would start my lessons and she (Mrs. Clamens) was, ?let me hear your voice?. I was shy and I sang ?Amazing Grace? and she said, ?you have a good voice and we can make it better?.

?When I went back to school she encouraged me to find a voice teacher out there. I found a teacher, but she was more of a coach rather than a teacher, so I lost a lot of my technique.

?When I came back this April Ms Clamens was so upset that I had lost a lot of the technique and was singing back on my throat and the breathing was not there.

?She was very, very worried and started me doing two lessons a week because she was so eager to get me back on track. She is very pleased with how I?ve progressed.?

Ms Raynor will be singing ?At Last? by Etta James during the concert.

?It is a really, really old song,? she said, ?It is like a wedding song and the second song will be ?Come In Out of the Rain? by Wendy Moten,? she said, ?This one is a bit difficult, because it is very pitchy and my higher notes in what we call belting are not as strong yet.

?So I really killed my own self in choosing this song, but Mrs. Clamens has confidence that I can get through it. It is just that now it is coming down to the crunch and I need this whole week.

?So I need to have self talks and I have to sing the song in my head and all of the modifications and hopefully that will be imprinted.?

She said she has a few jitters, but was more confident this year than last.

?I am nervous, but not as nervous as last year,? said the Berkeley Institute teacher. ?I had never really sung for an audience before, but I had did some little things in church, but those are people where you can mess up and they still clap anyway, but to me this is something where people are almost judging you on.

?When you are in church it is like, ?you are doing it for Jesus?, but this is different and they have paid to hear me sing.

?But I am not as worried, which is kind of worrying me now.?

She said it was not really her dream to become a famous singer. ?It is a hobby something,? she said, ?It is something that I enjoy and should someone hear me sing and likes it, I wouldn?t have a problem saying yes. Maybe when I know that I sound good, but not really at the moment.?

Khalilah Smith has been singing with Mrs. Clamens for about two years, but her years of singing date back to her early years at Devonshire Academy.

?It was the best performing arts programme on the Island at that time,? she said. ?That is how I was introduced to singing and theatre and musicals is what I most enjoy.?

She studied musical theatre at the University of the Arts, in Philadelphia, from 1996 to 2000, and after the birth of her son Zion, she returned to the Island.

?I didn?t sing for a couple of years while he was really little,? he said, ?But I knew in order for me to get my voice back to where it was I needed a teacher.

?I believe in having good technique and a friend of mine, who was my high school music teacher, told me about Mrs. Clamens. ?I found that studying with her gave me skills that I hadn?t gained in college.?

She added when it comes to voice training it was often about the teacher student relationship.

?Sometimes the way one teacher may explain it, it?s not the way another will,? said Ms Smith. ?So that?s why the teacher student relationship is important and it has enabled me to learn quite a lot about technique and to dabble in a few different styles.?

Along with the classics Ms Smith also sings R&B.

?I enjoy singing and I feel that I am able to do it really well,? she said. ?It feels good. I am critical of myself, so when something is not really right and it feels good that I am improving. You give a lot of yourself when you get up on stage, and it is a very brave thing to do.

?And I care a lot about it and I don?t want to waste people?s time or mine, so I always strive to be the best in as far as being a singer is concerned and that is why lessons are important to me.?

She is not sure what the future holds in the way of a singing career, but she continues to look at avenues.

?At the moment I do have a family and I need to be employed,? she said. ?I don?t know if I?ll be able to go back to the States. My son is three and how will I manage. I am not in a position.?

Ms Smith will sing four songs in four different styles during the concert.

She will do an English piece composed by Ricky Gordon, and a collection of songs by Langston Hughes, ?Dream Variations?, ?Sweet Love?, by Anita Baker, and ?Too Close for Comfort?, which is a big band Natalie Cole song, and Barbra Striesand?s ?A Piece of Sky?, that has more of a Broadway feel.

?I wanted to that to even though I love R&B and it is a fairly new style to be studying and showing contrasting pieces,? she said, ?I sing them to show off my voice.?

?It?s a heavy commitment to have on the side and it takes extra time out of your life and it?s in your spare time. It would be nice if it was nine to five, but it is so fulfilling that you really love it anyway.?