DECEMBER 2017 | SARASOTA SCENE 107
When you hear her sing it will touch your heart
forever. Her voice is special and the way she
interprets a song is something to behold. Quite
remarkable, since she lost her hearing when she was 19 years
old.
But Mandy Harvey doesn’t want you to feel bad or sympathetic
to her plight. In fact, she only wants you to hear and feel
the music when you listen to her perform, and smile.
Finishing fourth on America’s Got Talent’s 12th season in
2017, the 29-year American jazz-pop singer and songwriter has
a lot of reasons to smile. In her words, she’s living her dream,
because that’s exactly what it feels like to her when she sings
— a dream.
Born in Cincinnati, Harvey had hearing problems and underwent
several surgeries as a child to correct them. After moving
to Colorado, singing songs filled her childhood days and others
began to recognize her talent. When she lost her hearing while
majoring in singing education at Colorado University, she had
to leave school, but it never stopped her from singing.
After performing in various clubs in the Denver area, she
recorded several jazz albums. Jazz Times said of her debut
album Smile: “the vocals are rich and captivating.”
Harvey is altruistic. She believes in sharing her stories and
talents as a way to inspire people. So much so that she’s the
ambassador for the nonprofit organization No Barriers, which
helps people with disabilities overcome obstacles. Recently she
penned a memoir with co-author Mark Atteberry titled Sensing
the Rhythm: Finding My Voice in a World Without Sound.
Mandy Harvey uses visual tuners to help her find pitches
and takes her shoes off when she performs so that she can feel
the song and music. She is something special and something
to behold. When you hear her sing it will touch your heart and
even make the hardest hearts smile.
She is excited to be heading to Sarasota to be a part of
the Hear and Now Gala at the Opera House on December
15 benefiting the Ear Research Foundation, which was founded
by Dr. Herb Silverstein. The Foundation does so much good
work in helping people overcome hearing disabilities.
Nowadays, the very busy Mandy Harvey is making her way
around the country singing, writing songs, living her dream
and of course making people smile. That’s why I couldn’t
wait to see what the young songbird had to share regarding
her remarkable life as we took a look at some scenes from an
interview of her life.
MANDY HARVEY
on the town