Meet our FOUNDER

Sashai Ricketts-French knows what it means to be the person this organization was built for. A Jamaican-American lyric soprano who spent part of her childhood in foster care, Sashai's path to classical music was not paved. It was fought for. Her mother, Cecily Ricketts, gave her the first brick: piano lessons, a love of singing, and the unshakable belief that her daughter belonged in any room she chose to walk into. She was in her late thirties before a voice teacher ever assigned her music written by a BIPOC composer. That is not a footnote in her story, it's the reason this organization exists.

That belief carried Sashai into ACDA Honor Choirs in middle and high school, into All-State choirs, and through the doors of the A.W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts, one of the most competitive performing arts high schools in the country. It carried her onto the stage as Sarah in Ragtime, into her performances with various organizations including Opera in the Heights, iColori dell'Opera, and into the music ministry at Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church in Houston, where faith and artistry have never been separate things for her. 

She is a two-time first place winner in the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) competition, in the advanced adult avocational division. She's also honored to serve on the board directors for iColori dell'Opera and #VictoryForward.

Music isn't the only arena where Sashai has built expertise. She is a Human Resources Director with over 15 years of experience in employee relations, holding both the SHRM-SCP and SPHR certifications.   She has spent her career mastering two things at once: strategizing how people and resources move a business forward and advocating for those inside those systems.  Her instinct to see a broken structure and build something better, is exactly what drives Ricketts Vocal Arts. She is the proud mother of Giselle, a young soprano attending the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Sharing this legacy with her daughter is the thing she's most proud of. 

Sashai founded Ricketts Vocal Arts because she has lived on both sides of the door. She knows what it feels like to have someone open it for you. And she knows what it costs when nobody does.