Meet Dystince Robertson: A Milwaukee High School of the Arts senior with an award-winning voice
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) — Mosaics of musical instruments ranging from trumpets to violins adorn the front entrance of the Milwaukee High School of the Arts.
And when you step inside, you’ll hear their sounds echoing throughout the halls.
But in Room 100, it’s voices that are coming alive.
“The art of storytelling, that’s really all we’re doing as singers is telling a story,” said Choral Director Raymond Roberts.
Roberts, who has worked as a teacher for the last 33 years, has taught hundreds of children — some even the offspring of former students in past generations.
“All humans respond to quality art, quality literature, quality music,” Roberts told CBS 58’s Ellie Nakamoto-White. “Their voice is literally an extension of their spirit, their internal soul, and every kid has greatness in them. It’s just really wonderfully gratifying just to see them bloom.”
On a chilly Wednesday morning in December, Roberts is sitting down at a piano in the middle of Room 100, with his fingers flying across the keys.
But all eyes are on 17-year-old Dystince Robertson who’s standing in front belting into a microphone.
Robertson is a current senior at the school who has also been a student of Roberts’ since she walked through the doors.
“When I was an eighth grader, I came to orientation here and I completely free-styled my way into this school,” Robertson said laughingly. “I got called in the room and I was terrified but I knew what I wanted to do and it was to sing, and so I let whatever come out my face just explode.”
That explosion caught Roberts’ eye — and his ears.
“I think silver is a beautiful description of Dystince’s tone that’s just so pure and so seamless,” Roberts said. “I was just absolutely blown away by the tone quality and just natural musical instincts just in the little freestyle thing that she sang. I don’t remember exactly what it was but I heard the voice in there and I’m like, oh this is going to be a great four years.”
And since that moment, it’s been exactly as predicted.
Robertson is not only a member of the school’s choir, but she also works as a teacher’s assistant in Roberts’ intermediate class.
“I love singing and I could do it every day, all the time, every second and even when I’m not in this class, I’m probably hitting a tune in all of my other classes but I am not singing the answers!” Robertson said. “If I’m at school, if I’m not at school, my mind is constantly going with music. It’s just never ending.”
The powerhouse remembers truly singing for the first time when she was five.
“I was singing Old McDonald Had a Farm and I just remember trying to hit runs and notes and then my teacher was like, oh you kinda sound good!” Robertson recalled.
The passion continued to grow from that moment on. Now 12 years later, and Robertson said she is in Room 100 “every day.”
“There’s so many people with beautiful talents that a lot of people don’t get to see and I just thought I was gonna be another person like that,” Robertson said. “It was a beautiful moment because I feel like I was living out my dream but even though I felt that in that moment, I never knew it would bring me here.”
Her favorite genre to perform is jazz — something she never really listened to growing up.
“Any other music I’ve connected to, I’ve connected to jazz the most,” Robertson said. “Music is what makes the world go ‘round.”
Earlier this year, the dynamic duo took Robertson’s talents to the next level, entering her into the Ravenscroft Jazz Prize — a nationwide jazz competition in part for developing musicians aged 17 to 19.
“The recordings were due September 1st so I did connect to Dystince over the summer and said hey, it comes up really early in the school year but let’s decide how to get you ready for this competition,” Roberts said.
They ended up submitting two songs — once called “Detour Ahead” and another called “There Will Never Be Another You.”
Weeks went by, and Robertson said her submissions ended up slipping her mind.
Until one day.
“I never really had thought of me actually winning the competition,” Robertson said. “I was like, okay, there could literally be a 1% chance of me winning. So when I got the news that it was actually me in the first place, I was like are you serious right now?”
Robertson had beat out many other entries to win the $1,000 dollar prize.
“I literally thought it was fake, I thought it was a joke, I was like first place? A thousand dollars? Are you sure this is my name?” Robertson said jokingly.
Now she’s already working on entering another competition, practicing most days with Roberts inside of Room 100.
“To be honest, I can’t just say this feels like a second home. I have to say everywhere where I am able to sing feels like home because singing is just something I do, singing is something I live for,” Robertson said. “Every obstacle that I’ve faced or every mile, steppingstone has all been just to lead me up to where I’m going to go and hopefully that’s somewhere bigger.”
While Dystince continues to go the distance in her singing career, she wants to later become a music teacher or vocal coach after hopefully enrolling at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s musical program.
“Music is a gift to the world and when people share it, it’s beautiful,” Roberts said. “To know that she feels connected to the work we’ve done together is just a great feeling. I’m extremely proud of her.”
To listen to Dystince's two performances that earned her the grand prize, click here and here.