Anita DeChellis -Soprano, vocalist and teacher

Anita DeChellis is a classically trained singer with an interest in modern literature for the voice. Beginning piano studies at age 8, clarinet at age 12 and private voice lessons at age 16 it was no surprise when she decided to major in music at college.  Anita went on to earn a Bachelor of Music and Master of Music in Voice Performance at Appalachian State University and Duquesne University.

She has performed at the Rome Opera Festival, with the Pittsburgh Opera Chorus, the Tanglewood Festival Chorus with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and in the Bach Choir of Bethlehem.  Anita has performed in many different settings in Boston, New York City, Easton and Bethlehem, PA as a soloist, including Killian Hall at MIT, The Knitting Factory in New York City and Foy Hall at Moravian University. 

Anita was named Outstanding Classical/Opera Soloist of 2018 and 2019 at the Lehigh Valley Music Awards after her most recent CD releases on Sachimay Records, "Do You Mind?" and "Every Emotion is Just Perfect".

Anita is passionate about teaching voice and has been teaching for 30 years.

Reviews:

DeChellis Chamber Ensemble 

“Chamber Music”

Performers on theremin, percussion, piano, violin, and voice melded their parts into an eerie, slowly mutating whole, with singer Anita DeChellis bridging free jazz and art song. 

David Krasnow, The Village Voice

Inevitably, these pieces are dominated by Anita DeChellis' vocal performances, which are fortunately extremely robust, lively affairs.  She enjoys improvising with sounds, but she's quite capable of belting out a few big notes, which is sometimes just what this sort of thing calls for.  She is, however, often willing to melt into the ensemble to give the others space to move.

Richard Cochrane, Musings

Most formal of the three discs, and a definite reification of the pianist's goal of blurring the lines between contemporary classical and improvised music, the ensemble session features a quintet with Anita DeChellis' voice as it's most identifiable part.  A classically trained soprano, who eschews words for intonation and pitches, she whispers and hums rather than sings on these tracks.  

Ken Waxman, JazzWeekly.com

INTANGIBLE INDEX

Blue Collar Solitude: Improvised Chamber Music

This trio is an interesting hybrid, straddling the sound-worlds of both free improv and what is often called "uptown" composed music.  This is due to the nature of Anita DeChellis' obviously classically trained soprano, which she uses with skill, but also intelligence.  

Steve Koenig, JazzWeekly.com

THE FOCUS QUINTET

Anita DeChellis' performance (Pauline Oliveros and Bjork have been quoted, to give you a hint) is one of the strongest points of this cd."

Eugenio Maggi, Chandik.com

Anita DeChellis turns her soprano voice into an instrument on this ethereal recording. She sings at an ultra-slow pace, encouraging the others to interject short sound spurts covered in subdued pastel colors. The near-abrasive tones become a backdrop for the mystical voicing of Anita and the stealthy improvisations from the others.

Frank Rubolino, One Final Note

"Acknowledgements" 

Anita DeChellis' imaginative voice moves in. The singer even happens to sound a bit like Bjork here and there, but also borders on - or even enters - the sound poetic idiom.  Her wheezing mouth sounds remind me of some of Stockhausen's performance practices.  The voice tickles and meows its way through piles of newspapers, the piano explodes at certain intervals, a string is rubbed like in works by Iancu Dumitrescu, and the piano gets absentminded as the voice moves up in a Meredith Monk Our Lady of Late fashion.

"Body"

Anita DeChellis uses the lighter colors of her vocal palette, the voice moving in light, elegant gestures...The combination here of soft, withheld timbral successions out of the synthesizer, the subtle gestures of DeChellis' vocals, bestows a peculiar, close-miked enchantment of spell on the duration of the work, keeping the listener glued to the emerging sounds!