Born in sunny California to a home full of music from opera to rock to salsa, Kei Riggins fell in love with music that she could sing to her heart’s content.

 

After seeing an opera for the first time at the age of 10, she was obsessed, and was trained in the classical world from the age of 13 to 25. She sang opera as well as sang in oratorios and choirs for years in San Diego and Laie, Hawaii where she left California to study Classical vocal performance at Brigham Young University – Hawaii from 2012-2017. Her combined experience in San Diego and Hawaii led to several opportunities to travel to various countries of the Americas, Europe, Asia, and the South Pacific with groups such as North Coast Singers, Chamber Singers, and BYUH Concert Choir. 

 

In 2016 at the age of 23 she was selected as a young artist to perform an aria with the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra. “This was a huge accomplishment” she says “I had fallen in love with the orchestra ever since I was a little girl. The most magical sound to me is the A tuning of the strings at the beginning of a symphony piece to this day.” 

 

 

After 12 years of classical music and musical theater, Kei discovered a huge love and passion for salsa music and its sub-genres. Her family being from Chile and Mexico, she had grown up listening to artists such as Celia Cruz, Hector Lavoe, and Gloria Estefan, but never imagined she could sing like the salsa greats. Time proved otherwise when she became the lead vocalist of the BYU Hawaii Salsa orchestra under the direction of Dr. Darren Duerden touring with the group throughout the Hawaiian Islands for three years. Duerden described Kei’s singing as “one of the best salsa singers I’ve ever had in my ensemble.” Meanwhile she also studied the folk music of Chile and Mexico and began composing music in these styles. 

 

Currently she is at work writing and arranging music, focusing primarily on Salsa, Latin pop and traditional folk music of South America and Mexico in order to bring attention to the beautiful traditions of Latin America. She hopes with her upcoming EP “Representing: La Mujer” to showcase personal experiences of her and those close to her as Latin women, and to break the stereotypes placed upon them. “I want these stories to be personal, to be uplifting and inspiring. I want the music to reflect the happiness and pain there is through relationships, hardships, and triumphs.”