Cassandra Simpson

A major metropolitan city, on the outskirts of Johannesburg, South Africa is where this vibrant, vivacious, vocally talented, bundle of energy was born. Her dad calls her “bubbi”; her mom calls her “luvie”, but Cassandra Simpson is her name. Her first public, vocal performance took everyone by surprise. Nurses were astounded at how loud this baby could scream. Yes, she gave quite a performance on the delivery table that day, and she gave a new meaning to the well- known phrase, “Dynamite comes in small packages”.
Cassandra, at eighteen months, before she could pronounce the word, “mama”, was mumbling that she was going to be a singer. Now, almost eighteen years later, she has been true to her word. And with the constant support and encouragement from her loving family, she has had the opportunity of singing in places she, or anyone else, would ever dream of singing in. A typical scenario would go like this.
Dad: “Bubbi, stand on the chair and sing for the young waitress”. Cassandra: “Dad, come on – not in the restaurant”. Dad: “What are you afraid of? You want to be a singer and you’re shy? Singers aren’t shy, bubbi”. Cassandra: “No, no, I’m not shy. Okay, I’ll sing, but I’m not standing on the chair”.As a little girl, she turned the outside storage closet into a brightly-colored singing room. She placed an old, wooden box upside down and made it her stage. She would then close the door; open the windows; turn on the microphone; adjust the pitch; and have a blast. This was her playroom. The microphone was her Barbie doll.In 1999, Cassandra and her family moved to the United States. It was a major culture shock at first trying to fit in but Cassandra's passion for singing only grew as it befriended her while she was struggling with a very big change and move from a different continent.So yes, she has sung in restaurants; she has sung on cruise ships; she has sung in nursing homes for the elderly; she has even sung in doctors offices when, in the ending months of the year 2000 and continuing well into the next year, an unexpected life-threatening illness forever changed her vision. Severe Aplastic Anemia, Bone Marrow and Liver Failiure threatened her existence and eventually resulted in her being admitted into the hospital ready to start chemotherapy in preparation for a bone marrow transplant. This was a trying time for her, as it took her faith to the test. She fought through the hardship with great support from family and friends all around the world; and eventually to the amazement of the doctors, her blood counts began to return to normal and to this day her bone marrow and liver is one hundred percent. These hard times have allowed Cassandra to grow as a unique individual with an increase of faith and a desire to persevere in her dreams. She sings with passion and writes songs from her heart.While singing pop and R&B most of her life, she has been trained for 7 years in the Operatic field with a 5 octave range by Dr. Rebecca and Dr. Richard Cooke. Cassandra has brought complete silence to many crowds as they listen to her sing. Over the years, her angelic voice has brought tears and touched the hearts of many.In more formal ways, she has appeared in numerous vocal talent searches and is a finalist in Florida’s Next Big Star in 2008, and her voice has landed her appearances on National Television. Cassandra was the lead vocalist in a television show called “Hosanna”, and she appeared on K-TV (Kids Television in South Africa) embracing the little ones with her voice, by singing classic Disney tunes. She has sung the National Anthem for the Orlando Magic (2005) and for Disney’s Wide World of Sports. In 2007, Cassandra recorded in Nashville with six-time Dove Award winning producer Bryan Lennox while recording a song written by David Mullen “ Still a Dream.” She was blessed to have world-class musicians record live for this production such as Tim Akers whom (toured with Faith Hill).Cassandra’s desire and drive to pursue her dreams are still stronger than ever. She is hard working and passionate about her singing. Her favorite quote is “ You haven’t failed until you quit trying.”